^t^V  Of  PRIHC^ 


BV    3200    .B78    1902 

Brown,  Arthur  Judson,  1856- 

1963. 
Report  of  a  visitation  of 


;*     MAY  17  1909 


H  E  F  O  R  T 


Visitation  of  the  Syria  ]Mission 

OF     THE 

Pjresbyteriain^  Board  of  Foreig?^  Missions, 
march  20— aprie  26,  1902 

BY    THE 

REV.  ARTHUR  J.  BROWN,  D.D., 

Secretary. 


A  report  upon  Syria  and  Palestine  from  the  viewpoint  of 
missions  is  necessarily  inadequate,  as  it  would  be  inexpedient 
to  print  some  of  the  facts  which  are  vital  to  a  full  under- 
standing of  the  situation.  I  must  therefore  assume  that  the 
readers  of  this  report  are  aware  that  some  things  that  it  would 
not  be  discreet  to  publish  are  involved  in  the' statement  that  in 
Syria  we  are  working  under  Turkish  rule.  It  is  better,  how- 
ever, to  say  Moslem,  for  it  is  significant  of  the  situation  in  this 
part  of  Asia  that  peoples  are  not  described  by  nationality  but 
by  religion.     From  this  viewpoint,  there  are : 

THREE  CLASSES  OF  THE  POPULATION. 

The  Moslems. 

Of  course,  the  Moslems  are  not  only  the  most  numerous, 
but  to  a  greater  degree  than  elsewhere  they  affect  the  mission- 
ary situation.  True,  we  also  meet  the  Moslem  in  Persia  and  in 
parts  of  India,  but  the  Turkish  Moslem  is  ev£n  less  accessible 


than  the  Persian  Moslem  who  belongs  to  a  different  sect,  while 
India  is  kept  open  by  British  rule.  The  Turkish  Moslem 
is  an  ortliodox  Sunnite  and  the  Sultan  is  his  rehgious  as  well  as 
I  political  ruler.  It  is  not  true,  as  some  have  asserted,  that  no 
Moslems  have  been  converted,  but  every  intelligent  student  of 
missions  knows  that  unusual  difficulties  attend  the  effort  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  the  followers  of  Islam.  A  girl's  confes- 
sion of  Christ  in  one  of  our  boarding  schools  caused  a  riot  in 
lif^j,  which  physical  violence  was  only  averted  by  extraordinary  tact 
and  courage  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries.  A  converted  Mos- 
lem must  immediately  leave  the  country,  or  he  will  be  drafted 
into  the  army,  sent  to  some  distant  place  and  never  heard  of 
again.  In  either  case  he  is  lost  to  the  Protestant  Church  in 
Syria. 

Indeed,  according  to  Moslem  law  a  Christian  who  has 
never  been  a  Mohammedan  is  only  allowed  to  live  in  a  Moslem 
land  on  the  following  conditions :  "He  shall  not  found  churches, 
monasteries,  or  religious  establishments,  nor  raise  his  house  so 
high  as,  or  higher  than,  the  houses  of  the  Moslems ;  not  ride 
horses,  but  only  mules  and  donkeys,  and  these  even  after  the  ' 
manner  of  women ;  draw  back  and  give  way  to  Moslems  in  the 
thoroughfares;  wear  clothes  different  from  those  of  the  Mos- 
lems, or  some  sign  to  distinguish  him  from  them ;  have  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  when  in  the  public  baths,  namely  iron,  tin  or  copper 
bands ;  abstain  from  drinking  wine  and  eating  pork ;  not  cele- 
brate religious  feasts  publicly ;  not  sing  or  read  aloud  the  text 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  not  ring  bells ;  not  speak 
scornfully  of  God  or  Mohammed;  not  seek  to  introduce  inno- 
vations into  the  State  nor  to  convert  Moslems;  not  enter 
mosques  without  permission;  not  set  foot  upon  the  territory  of 
Mecca,  nor  dwell  in  the  Hadjas  district." 

But  when  Mohammed  II  captured  Constantinople  in  1453, 
he  found  prosperous  colonies  of  Genoese  and  Venetians,  who 
had  long  enjoyed  extra-territorial  rights,  and  as  he  saw  that  his 
revenues  would  suffer  if  he  banished  so  important  a  part  of  the 
population,  he  issued  the  famous  Edict  of  Toleration,  confirm- 
ing "the  existing  system  of  extra-territoriality  for  the  Genoese 
colony,  and  a  modified  form  of  it  to  the  native  Byzantines, 
whose  empire  he  had  just  made  his  own.  To  them  he  decreed 
autonomy  in  the  ultimate  assessment  of  the  taxes,  and  in  the 


3 

settlement  of  their  own  questions  of  inheritance,  marriage, 
divorce,  and  in  matters  of  personal  litigation.  At  the  same  time 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  religious  liberty  more  endunng  than 
was  then  contemplated.  He  could  not  retain  the  people  of  Con- 
stantinople without  the  presence  and  influence  of  their  clergy. 
To  the  Christian  clergy,  therefore,  he  granted  special  franchises, 
including  immunity  of  person,  of  domicile,  and  exercise  of 
ecclesiastic  functions.  These  ancient  grants  have  ever  since 
determined  the  privileges  of  Christian  clergy,  of  all  nations,  in 
Turkey." 

When  American  missionaries  first  entered  the  country  in 
1 819,  these  privileges  were  extended  to  them.  The  Treaty  of 
1830  did  not  confer  new  rights,  but  simply  recognized  those 
which  the  missionaries  already  enjoyed,  in  expressly  guaran- 
teeing the  right  of  American  missionaries  to  live  and  work  in 
Turkey. 

"The  Hatti  Humayoun  of  1856  declares  that  the  worship 
of  all  the  religions  and  creeds  existing  in  Turkey  being  prac- 
ticed with  all  liberty,  no  one  shall  be  prevented  from  exercising 
the  religion  that  he  professes.  Each  community  is  at  liberty  to 
establish  schools,  only  the  choice  of  teachers  and  the  method  of 
instruction  being  under  the  inspection  and  control  of  the  Gov- 
ernment." 

In  1867  the  Turkish  Government  actually  boasted  of  its 
liberality  in  this  respect,  declaring  that  the  Christian  sects  car- 
ried on  their  propaganda  "with  a  freedom  which  has  no  limits 
but  the  absolute  necessities  of  public  order."  In  1875  the  Sub- 
lime Porte  sent  a  note  to  the  United  States  Legation  which,  in 
discussing  the  withdrawal  of  the  customs'  franchise  from  Amer- 
iciin  missionaries,  explicitly  states  that  "after  interchange  of 
explanations,  it  has  been  decided  by  the  Sublime  Porte  that 
American  missionaries  who  are  attached  to  benevolent  estab- 
lishments, and  who  live  in  Turkey,  will  continue  to  be  treated 
on  the  same  footing  as  the  people  of  religious  avocation  (re- 
ligieux)  of  other  nations  of  the  same  category." 

At  the  Berlin  Congress  in  1878  the  Turkish  Commissioner 
declared  that  "throughout  the  (Ottoman)  Empire  the  most 
different  religions  are  professed  by  millions  of  the  Sultan's  sub- 
jects, and  not  one  has  been  molested  in  his  belief,  or  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  mode  of  worship.     The  Imperial  Government  is  de- 


termined  to  maintain  this  principle  in  its  full  force,  and  to  give 
it  all  the  extension  that  it  calls  for." 

Article  72  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  (1878)  expressly  pro- 
vides that  "ecclesiastics  and  pilgrims  and  monks  of  all  nationali- 
ties traveling  or  sojourning  in  Europe  or  Turkey  in  Asia  shall 
enjoy  entire  equality  of  rights,  advantages  and  privileges.  The 
right  of  official  protection  is  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 
diplomatic  and  consular  officers  of  the  Powers  in  Turkey,  both 
as  regards  the  persons  above  mentioned  and  their  religions, 
charitable  and  other  establishments  in  the  Holy  Places  and 
elsewhere." 

It  should  therefore  be  emphasized  that  the  legal  status 
of  American  missionaries  in  Turkey  was  not  obtained 
by  pressure  from  the  United  States  Government,  but 
that  it  existed  prior  to  any  Treaty,  and  that  it  is 
in  accord  with  the  long  established  and  specifically  rec- 
ognized principles  of  Turkish  law  and  custom.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  while  the  status  of  missionaries  in  other 
lands  is  simply  that  of  American  citizens,  in  Turkey  they  have 
a  status  "as  missionaries,"  for  in  the  Treaty  between  Turkey 
and  France,  special  concessions  are  made  to  French  priests, 
monks,  bishops  and  nuns,  and  they  are  empowered  to  reside  in 
Turkey  as  missionaries  in  the  undisturbed  practice  of  their 
religion,  a  privilege  which  the  "most  favored  nation  clause"  ex- 
tends to  missionaries  of  other  treaty  powers  including  the 
United  States.  There  are  few  countries  in  which  missionary 
operations  are  conducted  in  which  so  strong  a  legal  claim  can  be 
made  to  the  rights  of  American  Protestant  missionaries.  They 
have  a  right  to  go  there  not  simply  as  citizens,  but  as  mission- 
aries, to  live  there,  to  practice  their  religion,  and  to  have  the 
care  and  oversight  of  their  congregations,  and  so  long  as  they 
conform  to  the  laws  of  Turkey,  they  are  entitled  to  full  pro- 
tection. 

There  has  been,  however,  a  marked  disposition  en  the  part 
of  the  Sultan  and  his  subordinate  officers  to  curtail  these 
privileges,  and  since  1869  various  limitations  of  the  Treaty 
"immunities"  have  been  enforced,  some  of  which  have  been  ac- 
cepted by  the  United  States  Government,  such  as  prohibiting 
street  preaching;  forbidding  the  ownership  of  a  printing  press 
or  the  establishment  of  a  newspaper  without  special  authoriza- 


liun  ;  insisliiig  on  the  double  censorship  of  all  books  and  other 
printed  matter,  one  prior  to  the  printing  and  the  other  prior  to 
the  publishing-;  refusing  to  allow  physicians  to  practice  among 
(Jttoman  subjects  without  the  approval  of  the  Ottoman  medical 
faculty,  demanding  that  no  private  schools  shall  be  opened  un- 
less the  diplomas  of  teachers,  the  courses  of  study  and  the  text 
books,  have  been  approved  by  the  local  authorities,  etc. 

But  in  addition  to  these  diplomatically  recognized  limita- 
tions, various  decrees  have  been  promulgated  in  more  recent 
years  which  are  more  or  less  plainly  inconsistent  with  the 
Treaty  rights  of  missionaries,  and  which  seriously  limit  the  free- 
dom of  their  work.  Privileges  which  have  not  been  formally 
withdrawn  have  been  practically  denied  under  various  pretexts. 
There  is  little  difficulty  in  renting  property  for  residence  pur- 
poses, except  the  unwillingness  of  the  individual  owner,  which, 
however,  is  frequently  hard  to  overcome.  But  no  foreign 
c(jrporation  can  hold  property,  so  that  all  mission  property  is 
held  by  individuals,  and  even  they  cannot  buy  land  and  erect 
buildings  for  church  or  school  purposes  without  the  consent  of 
the  SultcUi.  Permits  to  build  or  to  make  needed  enlargements 
have  been  postponed  through  weary  years.  It  took  five  years 
and  a  law-suit  to  get  a  property  title  in  Zahleh.  It  is  twenty 
years  since  efforts  began  to  be  made  to  secure  an  irade  to  build 
a  church  at  Sidon,  but  though  the  money  has  been  on  hand  all 
that  time,  and  though  there  has  been  much  correspondence  on 
the  subject  and  several  visits  have  been  made  to  Constantinople, 
the  permit  has  not  yet  been  obtained.  Scores  of  similar  illus- 
trations might  be  cited. 

The  Sultan  is  becoming  nujre  and  more  uneasy  as  he 
sees  Western  ideas  and  methods  gradually  making  their  way 
into  his  dominions.  He  instinctively  feels  that  this  new  civili- 
zation is  incompatible  with  the  order  of  things  which  he  pre- 
fers, and  he  has  set  himself  to  arrest  the  movement  by  every 
means  within  his  i)ower.  All  foreigners  interested  in  Turkey 
might  as  well  ui'iderstand  that  the  Sultan  will  recognize  no 
treaties,  concede  no  privileges  excei)t  under  pressure  which  he 
deems  it  imprudent  to  resist.  He  will  do  absolutely  nothing 
that  he  is  not  forced  to  do. 

Fortunately  for  us,  his  power  is  limited  in  one  part  of  the 
Empire   in   which    we   are   particularly   interested.      After  the 


Civil  War  between  the  Druzes  and  Maronites,  April  to  July, 
i860,  in  which  15,000  people  were  massacred  and  20,000  refu- 
gees fled  to  Beirut,  the  Turkish  Government  sullenly  acquiesced 
in  the  demand  that  thereafter  the  Governor  of  the  Lebanon  Dis- 
trict should  always  be  a  Christian,  nominated  by  the  Sultan,  but 
confirmed  by  the  European  Powers.  By  the  Convention  then 
made,  the  Lebanon  District  is  exempted  from  military  service 
except  for  the  local  police,  freedom  of  speech  and  press  are 
guaranteed,  the  people  are  permitted  to  control  their  own  courts, 
are  given  large  liberty  in  transfers  of  title  and  property  and  are 
conceded  such  heavy  exemptions  in  taxation  that,  as  compared 
with  the  rest  of  Turkey,  the  Lebanon  is  virtually  untaxed.  For 
these  reasons,  this  District  is  the  most  prosperous  part  of  the 
Empire.  Its  substantial  houses  with  their  neat  red  tiles  and 
their  general  appearance  of  thrift  are  in  marked  contrast  to  the 
poverty-stricken  villages  in  the  other  districts. 

One  of  the  legal  curiosities  of  the  world  is  the  deed  under 
which  the  Board  holds  its  property  in  Shweir.  After  setting 
forth  that  Dr.  William  Carslaw,  the  former  holder  of  the  prop- 
erty, "wakkafed  and  dedicated"  it  "according  to  the  following 
instrument"  and  after  describing  it  in  detail,  the  document 
proceeds : 

"11.  Wakf  and  dedicated  true,  legal,  which  shall  not  be 
sold  nor  granted  nor  mortgaged,  neither  in  whole  nor  in  part, 
but  shall  remain  intact  upon  its  foundations,  flowing  in  its 
course,  guarded  according  to  the  following  conditions  men- 
tioned in  it  for  ever  and  ever  and  for  ever  until  God  shall  inherit 
the  earth  and  all  that  is  upon  it,  and  He  is  the  best  of  inheritors. 

"HI.  He  (Dr.  Carslaw)  wakkafed  this  to  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  well  known  and 
testified  of,  whose  center  is  156  Fifth  Avenue,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  in  the  United  States  of  America,  for  the  purposes  of 
this  Board  in  preaching  and  teaching  and  works  of  mercy  to  the 
poor  as  long  as  God  wills. 

"IV.  And  after  the  passing  away  of  this  Board  this  wakf 
shall  revert  to  the  Board  which  takes  its  place  and  assumes  its 
functions,  and  when  this  new  Board  fails  in  its  oversight  and 
functions,  the  wakf  shall  revert  to  the  poor  of  the  Protestant 
sect  in  Shweir,  and  after  them  to  the  poor  of  the  Protestant  sect 
in  Mount  Lebanon,  and  at  that  time  he  shall-  have  oversight  of 


this  wakf  who  is  most  worthy  from  among  these  poor  by  ap- 
pointment of  the  legal  head  of  the  Protestant  sect  in  Lebanon, 
unless  that  legal  head  wishes  to  exercise  that  right  himself. 
And  if  the  Protestant  poor  in  Mount  Lebanon  should  all  dis- 
appear, then  it  will  return  to  the  Protestant  poor  of  the  world, 
and  after  them  to  the  poor  of  all  the  world,  and  at  that  time  he 
shall  have  the  oversight  who  shall  be  most  worthy  from  among 
those  poor  by  appointment  of  the  spiritual  head." 

Fortunately,  another  clause  states  that  "this  wakf  may  be 
exchanged,  in  whole  or  in  part,  when  necessary  for  what  shall 
be  of  greater  value  to  the  wakf."  Aleantime,  let  us  hope  that  a 
gold  mine  may  not  be  discovered  on  the  property  to  precipitate 
a  scramble  by  "the  poor  of  all  the  world,"  and  that  the  era  of 
comity  may  not  be  unduly  delayed  by  an  unseemly  wrangle 
between  the  Pope  of  Rome,  the  Czar  of  Russia,  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  the  King  of  England  and  the  Moderator  of  the  Pres- 
byterian 'General  Assembly  as  to  which  one  shall  be  the 
"spiritual  head"  with  the  right  to  appoint  "the  most  worthy" 
pauper  of  the  world  to  "have  the  oversight"  of  this  hit  of 
picturesque  but  rocky  hillside. 

But  outside  of  the  Lebanon  District,  hatred  and  greed  run 
riot.  One  by  one  Treaty  rights  have  been  encroached  upon. 
More  and  more  rigorously,  oppressive  laws  have  been  enforced 
until  all  missionary  v.-ork,  Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant,  is 
being  grievously  hampered. 

The  dispute  between  Turkey  and  France  in  1901  over  some 
dock  privileges  in  Constantinople  has  unexpectedly  opened  a 
way  to  relief.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  French  Ambas- 
sador left  Constantinople  and  that  war  became  imminent.  As 
usual,  however,  the  Sultan-  yielded  to  a  show  of  force,  and 
France  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  obtain  an  Imperial 
irade,.  which,  according  to  the  London  Standard  of  November 
II,  1901 : 

"(i)  Recognizes  the  legal  status  of  our  (French)  existing 
schools,  and  grants  them  the  Customs'  immunities  stipulated  in 
the  Treaties  and  Conventions  in  force  ; 

"(2)  Recognizes  the  legal  existence  of  our  charitable  and 
religious  establishments,  and  grants  them  exemption  from  the 
Land  Tax  and  the  Customs"  immunities  stipulated  in  the 
Treaties  and  Conventions  in  force ; 


"(3)  Authorizes  the  construction,  repair,  or  enlargement 
of  the  scholastic,  charitable,  or  religious  establishments  damaged 
or  destroyed  during  the  events  of  1894,  1895  and  1896,  in 
Asiatic  Turkey  and  at  Constantinople ; 

"(4)  Undertakes  to  regard  as  fully  and  legally  authorized 
the  foundations,  enlargements,  constructions  and  repairs  we 
may  desire  in  the  future  to  effect,  if,  after  being  warned  of  our 
intention,  the  Imperial  Government  has  not  raised  objections 
within  the  delay  of  six  months ;  and 

"(5)   Sanctions  the  election  of  the  Chaldean  Patriarch. 

"Moreover,  the  documents  proving  that  the  decisions 
enumerated  above  aire  put  into  execution  have  been  communi- 
cated to  the  French  Embassy  in  Constantinople.  It  is  pointed 
out,  that,  by  this  new  arrangement,  numerous  difficulties  will  be 
avoided  for  the  future.  Till  now,  when  it  was  proposed  to  open 
a  scholastic  or  charitable  establishment  in  Turkey,  the  local 
authorities  could  either  prevent  its  construction,  or,  if  tViey  toler- 
ated it,  they  could  render  its  working  (proper)  almost  im- 
possible." 

April  8th,  the  same  paper  announced  that  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment, under  "the  most  favored  nation  clause,"  had  promptly 
"insisted  upon  the  Porte  granting  to  it  the  same  privileges  as 
those  recently  accorded  to  France  by  the  recognition  of  the 
French  schools,  churches  and  institutions  founded  without  Im- 
perial firman.  The  Sultan  has  just  issued  an  irade  thereby 
recognizing  all  the  Russian  schools  and  public  edifices  through- 
out Syria  and  Palestine  which  have  been  erected  and  opened, 
as  well  as  those  in  course  of  erection,  without  official  authoriza- 
tion by  the  Ottoman  Government.  Orders  have  been  sent  to 
the  Governors  of  the  District  concerned." 

An  efifort  is  now  being  made  to  secure  for  ^-Vmerican 
Protestant  enterprises  in  Turkey  the  privileges  which  have  thus 
been  conceded  to  the  French  and  the  Russian  missionaries,  in- 
stitutions and  work.  The  Turkish  Government  has  already 
granted  the  principle  involved,  and  all  that  is  necessary  is  for 
the  United  States  Government  to  insist  that  its  citizens  shall  be 
accorded  the  same  rights  as  those  which  Turkey  has  accorded  to 
the  French  and  the  Russians.  It  should  be  noted  that  these 
rights  are  not  in  addition  to  those  which  were  obtained  in  the 
Treaty.     They  simply  sweep  away  some  later  and  really  illegal 


limitations  of  the  Treaties,  and  go  back  to  the  status  enjoyed 
thirty  years  ago.  The  matter  has  been  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  State  Department,  and  negotiations  are  now  in  progress. 
It  is  most  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  our  Government  will  take  a 
firm  stand  in  the  matter.  The  desired  recognition  is  not  a  favor 
but  a  simple  right,  and  it  should  be  insisted  upon. 

It  is  notorious  that  the  Sultan  lives  in  constant  fear  of 
revolution  and  assassination.     Within,  his  Empire  is  a  seething 
mass  of  hostile  peoples   who  hate  one   another   with  all  the 
rancours  of  race,   country,   and  religion.     It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  Christians  are  the  only  ones  who  are  inim- 
ical to  the  Sultan.     The  word  "Turk,"  Hke  the  word  "Chris- 
tian,"  covers   many   discordant  factions   in  this   part   of  the 
world.     In  Turkey  in  Asia,  the  "Turks"  are  chiefly  Arabs, 
Koords,    Circassians    banished    from    the    Caucasus,    and    the 
Ottomans    proper    or    Osmanlis,    who    are    most    numerous 
in  AnatoHa  and  who,  in  their  country  villages  uncorrupted 
by  city  life,  are  often  peaceful,  industrious,  courteous,  brave 
and   hardy,   though  with   a  latent   savagery   which   religious 
fanaticism  can  easily  rouse.     But  in  European  Turkey,  the 
typical  Turks   are   Albanians   and   Slavs   with   an   admixture 
of    Ottomans    who    in    their   contact    with    other    races    have 
lost  their  native  virtues  and  developed  their  native  vices  till 
they  have  become  adepts  in  intrigue,  treachery,  cruelty  and  lust. 
The  Ottoman  Turks  number  altogether  only  about  9,000,000, 
or  one-third  of  the  population  of  the  Empire   (excluding  the 
merely  nominal  possessions  in  Africa.)     Nearly  all  the  other 
tribes,  particularly  the  Arabs,  Koords,  Albanians  and  Slavs, 
resent  the  domination  of  the  Ottomans.     Among  these  elements 
in  and  about  Constantinople  are  many  restless,  ambitious  and 
fairly  intelligent  men  who  chafe  under  the  harsh  and  reaction- 
ary   rule    of    the    Ottoman    Abdul    Aziz    and  who  have  a 
kind  of  organization  popularly  known  as  the  "Young  Turkish 
Party."     The  frightened  occupant  of  the  Yildiz  Palace  well 
knows  that  these  plotters  are  his  deadliest  enemies  and  that, 
acting  as  they  do  within  the  Turkish  and  Moslem  lines,  they 
are  able  to  do  him  ten-fold  more  harm  that  the  comparatively 
few  Christians,  whose  mutual  hatreds  prevent  any  possible 
combination  of  their  warring  sects. 


lO 

The  policy. of  exclusion  which  the  Sultan  so  strenuously 
desires  is,  however,  becoming  more  and  more  impossible.  Fast 
steamers  bring  throngs  of  European  travelers  to  crowd  the 
hotels  of  Constantinople,  Beirut,  Ras  Baalbek,  Damascus,  Jaffa 
and  Jerusalem.  The  white  tents  of  English  and  American 
visitors  dot  the  valleys  of  the  interior.  Projected  railroads 
already  gridiron  the  map.  The  first  railway  concession  for  this 
part  of  Asia  was  granted  in  1856  for  a  line  from  Smyrna  to 
Aiden.  Other  lines  were  built  from  Smyrna  to  Manisa,  from 
Constantinople  to  Nicomedia  and  from  Mersine  to  Adana. 
These  lines  were  constructed  by  English  and  French  syndicates, 
and  were  so  short  that  they  were  of  only  local  importance. 

But  in  1888,  the  Germans  vigorously  took  up  the  question 
of  railroads  in  Asiatic  Turkey  and  formed  the  Anatolian  Rail- 
way Company  which  secured  a  concession  to  repair  the  aban- 
doned line  from  Haidar  Pasha  to  Ismidt  and  to  extend  it  to  An- 
gora, which  was  reached  in  December,  1892.  The  following  year 
a  new  company  managed  to  obtain  another  permit  under  which . 
it  pushed  the  line  to  Konia  by  1896.  Subsequent  German  efforts 
to  get  permission  to  continue  the  road  were  strenuously  opposed 
by  Russia  and  several  other  European  Powers.  But  one  by  one 
German  persistence  overcame  the  obstacles.  The  Sultan  himself 
began  to  see  strategic  advantages  to  himself  in  the  proposed 
through  line,  and  in  November,  I90i,a  Convention  was  signed 
which  guaranteed  to  the  Anatolian  Railway  Company  the  right 
to  build  the  road  to  Baghdad  and  on  to  salt  water.  This 
railroad  will  effect  a  tremendous  revolution  in  the  hoary  East. 
Think  of  a  railroad  running  from  Constantinople  through  the 
heart  of  Asia  Minor,  traversing  the  Karamanian  plateau,  the 
Taurus  Mountains  and  Cilician  valleys,  descending  the  plain  of 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  passing  Haran,  Nineveh 
(Mosul)  Baghdad  and  Babylon,  and  ending  on  the  Persian 
Gulf.  That  road  will  not  only  open  up  a  vast  region  once 
famous  for  its  fertility  and  probably  still  susceptible  of  high 
cultivation,  but  it  will  so  shorten  the  journey  from  Europe  to 
India  that  it  will  have  far-reaching  consequences  for  that  teem- 
ing continent  as  well  as  for  Asia  Minor  and  Mesopotamia.  It 
is  not  surprising  that  the  other  European  Powers  and  England 
in  particular  are  highly  excited  and  that  war  ships  have  been 


II 

hurrying  to  Koweit,  the  desired  terminus.  Pending  the  settle- 
ment of  the  controversy  as  to  the  poHtical  status  of  that  port, 
the  temporary  terminus  is  at  Basra. 

Another  Hne  is  being  constructed  from  Haifa,  through 
GaHlee  to  Damascus,  with  Baghdad  for  an  expected  terminus. 
I  drove  for  hours  within  sight  of  the  roadbed  which  a  French 
company  had  already  made  from  Zableh  nearly  to  Hums  and 
which  will  be  pushed  on  to  Aleppo.  Still  more  significant  is 
the  projected  line  from  Damascus  southward  to  Mecca,  so  that 
the  myriads  of  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  City  of  Islam  will  ere  long 
journey  by  rail.  Trains  are  already  running  from  Jafifa  to 
Jerusalem  and  from  Beirut  to  Damascus.  The  short  road  from 
Mersine  to  Adana  is  ultimately  to  form  a  junction  with  the 
Anatolian  Company's  trunk  line  from  Constantinople  to 
Baghdad,  while  the  two  roads  from  Smyrna,  one  French  and 
the  other  English,  also  expect  to  reach  the  Baghdad  road. 

Russia,  however,  is  by  no  means  disposed  to  leave  railroad 
building  in  Asiatic  Turkey  to  her  rivals.  M.  Victor  Berard  of 
Paris  happily  characterizes  the  French  and  English  lines  con- 
structed between  1856  and  1886  as  railroads  of  penetration,  the 
German  lines  begun  in  1886  as  railroads  of  transit,  and  the 
Russian  lines  as  railroads  of  occupation.  The  concessions  that 
Russia  has  wrung  from  the  Sultan  throw  a  strong  light  upon 
her  politico-military  ambitions  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  her 
determination  to  have  all  needful  facilities  for  promptly  sending 
troops  where  they  can  do  the  most  good  in  an  emergency.  She 
has  obtained  the  exclusive  right  to  build  and  operate  all  rail- 
roads in  the  vilayets  of  Trebizonde  and  Erzeroum.  and  the 
promise  that  only  Turks  shall  be  given  rights  to  construct  rail- 
roads in  the  vilayet  of  Sivas.  As  Trebizonde  is  the  nearest  port 
to  Armenia,  Erzeroum  a  powerful  military  and  commercial  cen- 
ter of  the  interior  on  the  direct  road  from  Tiflis  and  Kars,  and 
Sivas  the  converging  point  of  roads  from  Erzeroum  on  the 
east,  Samsoun  on  the  Black  Sea  on  the  north,  Angora  and 
Constantinople  on  the  west,  Kharpout  and  Mardin  on  the 
southeast,  Marash  and  Bayas  on  the  Gulf  of  Alexandretta  on 
the  south,  and  Konia  on  the  southwest,  the  strategic  signifi- 
cance of  Russia's  concessions  is  easily  understood.  As  M. 
Berard  says: 


12 

"Russia  compels  in  this  way  the  future  possession  or  the 
surveillance  of  all  the  line?  necessary  for  the  occupation  of  Great 
Armenia.  She  does  not  demand  the  immediate  concession  of 
the  smallest  piece  of  line.    She  is  methodical  in  her  enterprises." 

While  any  one  can  see  that  the  French  buildings  in  Jeru- 
salem are  more  imposing  than  any  purely  religious  purpose 
necessitates,  the  Russian  quarter  is  such  a  veritable  fortress  in 
size  and  strength,  and  the  towering  Belvedere  Tower,  which 
crowns  the  Mount  of  Olives,  is  so  unmistakably  adapted  to 
military  signaling  for  nearly  all  that  part  of  Palestine,  that  no 
one,  except  diplomats  and  idiots,  doubts  that  Russia  is  prepar- 
ing for  a  day  w^hen  she  expects,  to  use  Napoleon's  phrase,  that 
"Providence  will  be  on  the  side  of  the  heaviest  battalions." 

While,  therefore,  the  Far  Eastern  question  in  China,  Japan 
and  Korea  has  diverted  popular  attention  from  the  Eastern 
question  in  Turkey,  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the  elements  of  the 
latter  still  exist,  and  that  the  Powers  most  interested  are  more 
or  less  quietly  at  work  on  the  old  ground.  Russia  is  moving 
steadily  and  inflexibly  around  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  other 
Powers  are  desperately  trying  to  checkmate  her  before  she  com- 
mands the  Dardanelles,  where  her  enormous  armaments  would 
jeopardize  England  at  Egypt  and  the  gateway  to  India  and  be 
so  dangerously  close  to  the  coast  lines  of  Greece,  Austria,  Italy 
and  France,  as  well  as  North  Africa,  that  the  Mediterranean  as 
well  as  the  Black  Sea  would  practically  be  a  "Russian  lake." 
Germany  is  concerned  because,  though  having  no  coast  line  that 
would  be  exposed,  she  sees  that  such  Russian  ascendancy  would 
destroy  the  balance  of  power  and  menace  all  Europe,  because 
she  has  large  commercial  interests  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  and 
because  when  the  break-up  comes  Germany  wants  her  share. 
She  is  therefore  straining  every  nerve  to  strengthen  herself  in. 
Palestine,  Syria  and  Asia  Minor  generally. 

From  a  mission  viewpoint,  a  change  might  not  materially 
benefit  us,  for  France,  with  the  powerful  aid  of  Roman  Catholic 
priests,  monks,  nuns  and  Jesuits,  is  so  entrenching  herself  in 
Syria  that  she  would  probably  get  that  region  in  any  distribu- 
tion of  spoils,  and  while  Turkish  Moslem  rule  is  bad,  French- 
Jesuit  rule  is  not  much  better.  The  French  position,  however, 
has  been  seriously  weakened  within  recent  months.  The  Berlin 
Conference  recognized  France  as  the  Protector  of  Catholic  Mis- 


13 

sions  in  the  East,  and  France  so  highly  prizes  the  prestige  and 
opportunity  this  gave  her,  that  however  anti-clerical  her  states- 
men may  be  at  home,  they  are  zealous  Romanists  in  Asia,  for 
this  privilege  makes  every  Roman  Catholic  priest  and  member, 
irrespective  of  nationality,  an  ally  of  Franc?.  But  not  long  ago, 
Germany  demanded  and  obtained  from  the  Sublime  Porte  the 
right  to  direct  protection  of  her  own  subjects.  Catholic  and 
Protestant  alike.  Now  Italy  has  secured  the  same  right  for  her 
people  in  Turkey,  and  as  there  are  no  Roman  Catholic  Russians 
or  Americans  in  Turkey,  and  very  few  English,  France  finds  her 
importance  in  the  diplomatic  circle  in  Constantinople  seriously 
diminished. 

Meantime  I.  Zangwill  remarks:  "As  to  what  will  be  the 
paramount  Power  politically,  my  own  opinion  is  that  the 
Turkish  Empire  will  long  remain  to  the  Turk,  for  before  the 
Holy  Places  of  Islam  could  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  infidel, 
the  countless  millions  of  Islam,  black,  white,  and  negroid,  in 
North  Africa,  in  India,  in  China,  in  the  Sahara,  in  the  Soudan, 
already  secretly  organised,  would  unite  in  one  of  the  bloodiest 
Holy  Wars  in  history.  The  Sultan  will  always  be  at  least  the 
suzerain  of  Palestine." 

This,  however,  is  rather  far-fetched.  It  is  more  probable 
that  the  Sultan's  success  in  maintaining  his  position  will  be 
due  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past  to  the  jealousies  of 
his  foes  rather  than  to  the  support  of  his  friends,  if  indeed  he 
has  any  friends.  The  most  universally  and  deservedly  hated 
monarch  in  the  world  will  be  fairly  secure  in  his  "bad  eminence" 
as  long  as  he  can  continue  to  play  Englishman  against  Russian, 
French  against  German,  Druze  against  Maronite,  and  Latin 
against  Greek. 

In  spite  of  all  that  one  knows  of  its  injurious  influence,  it  is 
impossible  for  the  traveler  to  deny  that  there  is  a  certain  fascina- 
tion about  the  Moslem  faith.  We  have  been  repeatedly  told 
that  the  Orientals  are  fond  of  images,  pictures,  gorgeous  vest- 
ments and  elaborate  rituals,  and  that  our  type  of  Protestantism 
is  not  suited  to  their  temperament  because  of  its  lack  of  these 
things.  But  Mohammedanism  out-Puritans  Puritanism  in  the 
severe  simplicity  of  its  worship.  Its  mosques  are,  as  a  rule, 
devoid  of  ornamentation.  While  I  saw  a  few  that  were  beauti- 
fully decorated,  particularly  in  Cairo  and  Constantinople,  I  saw 


14 

hundreds  in  India,  Egypt,  Syria,  Palestine  and  Turkey  that  were 
as  plain  as  the  old-fashioned  meeting-houses  of  New  England. 
Nor  has  Mohammedanism  any  idols  or  images  of  saints.  Its 
whole  architecture  and  worship  are  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
gorgeousness  of  the  Roman  churches.  One  of  the  most  impres- 
sive scenes  in  Asia  can  be  daily  witnessed  in  any  Moslem  city. 
Five  times  a  day  from  innumerable  minarets,  the  clear  penetrat- 
ing tones  of  the  muezzin  vibrate  through  the  air,  and  at 
the  summons  men  everywhere  prostrate  themselves  in  silent 
prayer.  It  matters  not  where  they  are  or  what  profane  eyes 
may  be  curiously  watching.  They  turn  their  faces  toward 
Mecca  and  reverently  worship.  In  the  ancient  city  of  Hums, 
I  stood  one  evening  at  sunset  on  a  housetop,  and  I  confess  that 
I  was  thrilled  as  I  heard  the  sweetly  solemn  calls  to  prayer 
sounding  from  scores  of  rnosques  in  that  venerable  city,  and 
as  I  saw  multitudes  making  reverent  response.  Mohammedan- 
ism is  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with  in  Asia.  It  appears  to  ap- 
peal almost  irresistibly  to  the  Oriental.  Instead  of  showing 
signs  of  decaying,  it  appears  to  be  more  compact  and  aggressive 
to-day  than  ever  before.  Indeed,  it  is  practically  the  only 
religion  except  Christianity  which  is  still  making  conquests, 
for  it  is  spreading  persistently  and  rapidly  in  Africa,  India  and 
China.  What  is  the  secret  of  its  power  and  what  have  we  as 
followers  of  Christ  to  learn  from  it?  The  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  O. 
Dwight,  long  a  missionary  in  Constantinople,  answers  as 
follows : 

"The  Mohammedan  believes  in  God ;  he  uses  psalms  of 
praise  closely  related  to  the  old  Hebrew  hymnal ;  he  promul- 
gates a  code  of  morals  virtually  the  same  as  that  of  Sinai ;  he 
admits  the  miraculous  birth  and  unique  character  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  he  talks  glibly  of  repentance  and  of  salvation  by  grace. 
Why  is  this  noble  promise  of  strength  and  vitality  everywhere 
coupled  with  weakness  and  abject  failure  in  material  develop- 
ment, and  the  assumption  that  he  will  co-operate  in  God's  work 
met  with  a  hostility  to  Christianity  which  during  centuries  has 
successfully  checked  the  efforts  of  Christian  missionaries? 
Thomas  Carlyle  makes  an  inquiry  which  goes  to  the  roots  of 
one  element  of  this  puzzle.  He  says :  'Islam  triumphs  by  the 
sword,  but  where  did  it  get  its  sword  ?'  The  great  truth  which 
burned  in  the  Meccan's  heart  until  it  forced  him  to  become  a 


15 

prophet  was  the  truth  that  God  is  one  God,  slow  to  anger  and 
plenteous  in  mercy.  Islam  got  its  sword  where  Israel  got  its 
mighty  weapon  for  hewing  a  place  among  the  nations :  through 
championship  of  God's  supremacy  when  the  world  had  well- 
nigh  forgotten  him.  Mohammed  welded  this  truth  with  so  much 
heat  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers  that  no  crevice  is  left  for  a 
hair's  breadth  of  doubt  as  to  the  truth  of  the  whole  mass  of  ac- 
companying doctrine.  To  this  day  Islam  has  power  to  convert 
pagans  because  it  uses  the  same  truth  with  similar  heat,  until 
the  conscience  of  the  pagan  responds  with  conviction  that  God 
is  one  God.  This  is  the  strength  of  Islam.  But  under  cover 
of  his  position  as  a  prophet  of  the  truth  of  God's  being,  Mo- 
hammed offers  his  followers  three  principles  which  lull  con- 
science into  contented  silence,  and  block  the  ears  against  the 
Gospel.  I.  God  is  too  merciful  to  reject  any  believer  for  yield- 
ing to  the  impulses  of  his  nature.  2.  Man  is  too  feeble  to  re- 
press himself  or  keep  the  moral  law.  3.  Ritual  observances 
constitute  the  obedience  which  God  requires  from  man.  In 
these  three  points  of  doctrine  may  be  seen  the  radical  opposition 
between  Islam  and  Christianity  and  the  sources  of  the  weakness 
of  Mohammedan  nations.  Here  is  the  reason  for  the  paralysis 
which  thus  far  has  held  every  Mohammedan  people  at  the  level 
to  which  it  first  rose  on  leaving  heathenism  and  acknowledging 
the  one  eternal  God.  Islam  has  a  form  of  godhness,  but  the 
power  of  it  is  persistently  opposed  and  denied  by  that  exaltation 
of  self-seeking  which  permeates  the  whole  mass  of  the  deduc- 
tions which  have  been  drawn  from  the  truth.  There  is  small  hope 
for  impressing  the  mass  of  Mohammedans  by  the  methods  effec- 
tive with  other  non-Christian  peoples.  The  Mohammedan  sys- 
tem seems  designed  to  minimize  the  effect  of  Gospel  preaching 
by  leaving  no  room  for  a  Saviour  or  for  a  renewing  spirit. 
The  appeal  which  seems  most  strongly  and  most  surely  to  move 
all  Mohammedans  is  the  appeal  of  the  actual  life  of  true  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus  Christ.  But  it  is  imperative  that  missionaries 
who  hope  to  impress  Mohammedans  with  the  value  of  Christian 
truth  should  use  every  energy  to  encourage  and  build  up  high 
the  manly  qualities  among  all  Christians  who  live  in  contact 
with  Mohammedans.  Christian  character  known  to  Moslems 
through  personal  experience  will  do  what  controversy  can  not. 


i6 

what  argument  is  powerless  to  accomplish,  and  what  mere  expo- 
sition of  doctrine  will  go  far  to  prevent.  For  as  Bishop  West- 
cott  has  said  respecting  the  world  in  general,  for  Moslems  the 
proof  of  Christianity  prepared  of  God  is  a  society  truly  Chris- 
tian that  is  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit  revealing  'Himself 
through  righteousness  and  through  love." 

The  Jews. 

The  Jews  form  the  second  class.  Relatively  they  are  not 
numerous.  There  are  but  25,000  in  Syria  and  45,031  in  Pales- 
tine, of  whom  22,000  are  in  Jerusalem.  I  have  great  respect 
for  the  intelligent  and  thrifty  Jews  in  other  lands,  but  it 
is  impossible  to  have  any  for  those  who  now  reside  as  aliens  in 
their  ancient  heritage.  In  1840,  the  great  Hebrew  philanthro- 
pist. Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  discussed  v.dth  Mohammed  Ali  a 
plan  for  the  return  of  the  Jews  to  Palestine,  and  such  prominent 
personages  as  Ludwig  August  Frankel,  Benjamin  DTsraeli, 
George  Eliot,  Baron  Edmond  de  Rothschild,  Dr.  Max  Nordau 
and  others  have  more  or  less  strongly  favored  the  scheme.  The 
latest  development  of  the  idea  is  by  Dr.  Theodore  Herzl,  the 
■  Vienna  editor,  who  now  champions  "the  Zionist  Movement." 
He  thus  outlines  his  scheme  for  a  Jewish  state : 

"We  must  obtain  the  sovereignty  over  Palestine — our  never 
to-be- forgotten,  historical  home.  At  the  head  of  the  movement 
will  be  two  great  and  powerful  agents — the  Society  of  Jews  and 
the  Jewish  Company.  The  first  named  will  be  a  political  or- 
ganization and  spread  the  Jewish  propaganda.  The  latter  will 
be  a  limited  liability  company,  under  English  laws,  having  its 
headquarters  in  London,  and  a  capital  of,  say,  a  milliard  of 
marks.  Its  task  will  be  to  discharge  all  the  financial  obligations 
of  the  retiring  Jews  and  regulate  the  economic  conditions  in  the 
new  country.  At  first  we  shall  send  only  unskilled  labor — that 
is,  the  very  poorest,  who  will  make  the  land  arable.  They  will 
lay  out  streets,  build  bridges  and  railroads,  regulate  rivers  and 
lay  down  telegraphs  according  to  plans  prepared  at  headquar- 
ters. Their  work  will  bring  trade,  their  trade  the  market,  and 
the  markets  will  cause  new  settlers  to  flock  to  the  country." 

But  the  scheme  fails  at  the  point  so  keenly  made  in  Louis 
Napoleon's  question  to  Cremieux :  "Will  the  prosperous  Jews  of 


17 

London,  New  York  and  every  other  large  city  leave  their  homes 
and  fortunes  and  go  to  the  Holy  Land  ?"  They  will  do  nothing 
of  the  kind.  The  modern  Jew  is  neither  a  farmer  nor  a  shep- 
herd, but  a  trader  and  a  banker,  and  he  has  no  idea  of  leaving 
the  freedom  and  wealth  he  enjoys  in  Europe  and  America  in 
order  to  till  the  rocky  hillsides  of  Judaea  or  to  be  robbed  by  the 
avaricious  Turk.  So  the  practical  result  has  been  that  the  Jews 
who  go  to  Palestine  are  the  laziest,  most  worthless  and  fanatical 
Jews  of  the  world,  who  are  willing  to  be  supported  in  compara- 
tive idleness  by  the  well-meaning  but  mistaken  charity  of  their 
brethren  in  Europe  and  America. 

,  Leading  Jewish  rabbis  in  England,  France,  Germany  and 
the  United  States  are  emphatic  in  their  disapproval  of  the 
scheme,  some  of  them  characterizing  it  as  "simply  ridiculous," 
"fantastic,  mischievous  and  impossible  of  realization."  The 
Jewish  rabbis  of  New  York  have  adopted  resolutions  declaring 
that  the  mission  of  Judaism  is  religious,  not  political,  that  it  is 
not  dependent  on  the  soil  of  Palestine  and  that  any  presentation 
of  the  Jewish  question  as  a  subject  for  diplomacy  on  the  part 
of  the  Powers  is  to  be  deprecated;  while  the  Rev.  Dr.  K. 
Kohler  wisely  argues  that  even  if  the  scheme  were  feasible, 
Palestine  would  be  only  an  insignificant  nation,  living  at  the 
mercy  of  the  great  powers  of  the  earth,  a  half-Oriental,  semi- 
civiHzed  State,  a  dumping  ground  for  the  unsuccessful  and  un- 
desirable elements  of  the  race,  who  as  the  representatives  of 
Judaism  before  the  world  would  not  raise  the  standing  of  the 
Jew  in  any  spiritual  sense,  but  lower  it  and  lessen  his  influence 
in  the  world. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  Hebrew  race  nowhere  appears  to 
worse  advantage  than  in  its  mendicant  and  bigoted  representa- 
tives in  Jerusalem.  The  streets  of  the  Jewish  quarter  are  as 
filthy  as  those  of  any  heathen  city  in  Asia.  Hundreds  of  lepers 
line  the  roads  near  the  city,  and  thrust  their  disgusting  sores 
under  the  eyes  of  every  stranger.  The  one  real  manifestation 
of  grief  is  to  be  found  at  the  Wailing  Place  of  the  Jews,  where 
long  bearded  men  and  white-haired  women  press  their  fore- 
heads against  the  mighty  stones  which  suggest  the  splendors  of 
a  by-gone  age,  and  with  genuine  tears  and  sobs  lament  the  fallen 
grandeur  of  Israel.  But  even  there  other  Jews  unblushingly 
turn  to  financial  profit  the  sacred  associations  of  the  place  and 


insolently  beg  of  every  visitor.  I  agree  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  H.  Jessup  that  "the  whole  impression  made  upon  an  ob- 
server with  regard  to  these  Jewish  colonies  is  that  they  are 
forced,  unnatural  and  of  doubtful  success.  The  pauperizing 
system  which  has  made  Jerusalem  a  great  almshouse  tends  to 
demoralize  the  whole  system  of  Palestine  colonization.  The 
entire  scheme  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  a  fad,  which  is  being  pur- 
sued with  a  special  object,  having  none  of  the  elements  which 
made  the  old  Phcenician  colonies  and  the  modern  Anglo-Saxon 
colonies  successful.  The  trend  of  Jewish  migration  is  west- 
ward, and  farther  than  ever  from  the  old  land  of  Israel.  There 
are  about  four  times  as  many  Jews  now  in  New  York  City  as 
there  are  in  the  whole  of  Palestine.  Tens  of  thousands  are 
going  to  the  Argentine  Republic  in  South  America.  They  seem 
to  be  more  and  more  torn  loose  from  territorial  attachments." 

There  is  no  lack  of  Protestant  efifort  to  convert  the  Jews 
of  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  I  visited  with  sympathetic  interest 
several  of  the  costly  establishments  which  have  been  erected 
by  the  Christians  of  Europe,  particularly  of  Great  Britain.  But 
the  results  are  painfully  small.  The  fanatical,  mendicant  Jews 
of  the  once  Promised  Land  are  about  the  most  hopeless  mis- 
sionary field  that  can  be  imagined.  The  curse  is  plainly  on 
them  and  on  their  children. 

The  Christians. 

The  Christians  form  the  third  class.  They  are  divided  into 
a  motley  variety  of  sects.  Armenians,  some  60,000 ;  Druzes  in 
the  Lebanon  and  Ante-Lebanon  Mountains,  who  seceded  from 
Islam  in  the  eleventh  century,  who  bitterly  hate  and  frequently 
fight  their  parent  stock,  and  whose  numbers  are  uncertainly 
placed  at  100,000;  Nusaireeyeh,  a  savage  race  of  nearly  200,- 
000  souls,  holding  secret  doctrines  and  inhabiting  the  far  north- 
ern mountains ;  Orthodox  Greeks,  150,000,  who  though  of  Arab 
blood,  belong  to  the  Russian  Greek  Church;  Jacobites,  who 
split  off  from  the  Greek  Church  in  the  sixth  century  and  are 
now  but  a  small  body;  Greek  Catholics,  50,000,  higher  in  the 
social  scale,  who  are  under  the  sway  of  the  Pope  of  Rome ;  and 
Maronites  of  Mount  Lebanon,  150,000,  who  are  the  modern  rep- 
resentatives of  the  old  Syrian  Church — a  bigoted  -element  very 
difificult  to  reach. 


19 

These  sects  are  sectarian  in  the  narrowest  sense.  As  most 
of  them  call  themselves  Christians,  and  as  their  Christianity  is  a 
national  symbol  rather  than  a  vital  faith,  they  have  associated 
the  name  Christian  in  the  Mohammedan  mind  with  inferiority, 
turbulence  and  mendacity.  There  are  individual  exceptions  in,  /"  ^ 
all  these  communions.  Speaking  broadly,  the  Orthodox  Greeks 
are  by  far  the  best  element  of  the  Christian  population.  They 
are  more  intelligent  and  more  friendly  to  our  missionaries. 
They  are  often  willing  to  send  their  children  to  our  schools,  and 
some  of  their  priests  and  bishops  make  considerable  use  of  our 
literature.  Our  freest  opportunity  for  mission  work  is  among 
these  Greeks,  some  of  whom  "would  see  Jesus,"  while  we  have 
promising  work  among  the  Jacobites  in  the  Tripoli  field.  But 
taking  the  "Christian"  population  of  the  country  as  a  whole  its 
reputation  is^so  bad  that  our  churches  cannot  use  the  name  at 
all,  but  are  forced  to  call  themselves  "Protestanis'^to  distinguish 
therniel ves _f rom  the  "Christians."  This  is  one  of  the  first 
things  that  the  traveler  has  to  learn,  thaFT^^TSistian"  in  this 
part  of  the  world  is  not  a  Christian^  A  man  belongs  to_  a  sect 
becaiTse  Be"w^s~"BoriLiiijt.  His  loyalty  to  it  is  quite  independ- 
ent of  spiritual  considerations.  His  religion  is  simply  the  badge 
and  inheritance  of  his  clan,  and  he  never  thinks  of  changing  it. 
f  The  character  of  the  so-called  Christian  sects  in  Syria  is 

bad  enough.  But  in  Palestine,  the  conduct  of  the  alleged  fol- 
lowers of  the  true  God  is  the  scandal  of  Christendom.  The 
Holy_Citj:^impress£d  me  as  the  most  unholy  place  I  saw  in  a 
fifteen  months  tour  in  Asia.  It_is_the  magnet  for  the  cranks 
and  fanatics  of  Europe  and  America.  Of  course,  no  one  can  now 
positively  identify  the  exact  places  which  are  associated  with 
the  most  hallowed  events  of  our  religion.  But  greedy  priests 
profess  to  know  them  and  have  erected  churches  and  shrines 
which  are  annually  visited  by  myriads  of  the  superstitious.  In 
the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem  and  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  no  one  sect  is  allowed  a  mo- 
nopoly, but  each  has  been  assigned  its  own  portion,  so  that  in  the 
same  building  are  parts  set  aside  for  Greeks,  Armenians,  Jacob- 
ites, Coptics,  and  Syriacs.  But  the  would-be-reverent  visitor 
is  startled  to  find  Moslem  soldiers  with  loaded  rifles  and  fixed 
bayonets  constantly  on  guard  in  these  Christian  churches  to  pre- 
vent the  "Christians"  from  cutting  one  another's  throats.    Only 


20 

a  short  time  before  my  visit,  two  men  were  killed  in  a  brawl  in 
the  very  grotto  where  Christ  is  said  to  have  been  born.  In 
Jerusalem,  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  a  strange  mix- 
ture of  gorgeousness  and  squalor.  Here,  too,  Turkish  sentries 
were  in  evidence.  The  Russian  pilgrims  who  were  in  the 
Church  that  day  were  dirty  and  ignorant  looking  specimens 
of  humanity,  apparently  lower  in  the  scale  of  intelligence  than 
any  Chinese  that  I  saw  in  the  Celestial  Empire.  While  I  stood 
there,  an  Armenian  service  was  in  progress.  The  procession 
could  not  have  been  matched  anywhere  outside  of  a  circus  or  a 
dime  museum.  As  the  Patriarch,  whose  mitre  blazed  with  pre- 
cious stones  and  whose  robes  were  literally  cloth  of  gold,  was 
about  to  enter  the  Sepulchre  where  Christ's  body  is  said  to  have 
laid,  a  deacon  fumbled  in  removing  his  mitre,  and  the  Patriarch, 
unimpressed  by  the  solemnity  of  the  place  and  time,  snarled  at 
him  with  the  ferocity  of  a  wolf  and  in  a  voice  heard  by  the  whole 
congregation,  while  fifty  Turkish  soldiers  scattered  about  the 
building  tightened  their  grip  upon  their  rifles  in  expectation  of 
a  free  fight.  A  melee  actually  occurred  last  November  between 
the  Greek  and  Latin  monks,  and  as  a  result  thirty-four  Greeks, 
including  twelve  priests,  have  just  been  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment ranging  from  a  week  to  nine  months. 

The  Board's  Cemetery  in  Jerusalem,  which  has  already 
given  us  so  much  trouble,  is  still  a  source  of  bickering  among 
the  various  sects.  It  is  believed  to  be  the  place  where  Christ 
partook  of  the  Last  Supper  with  his  disciples.  It  was  purchased 
by  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  now  the  Greeks  are  seeking  to  pre- 
vent the  issuance  of  the  legal  papers  because  they  do  not  want 
such  a  sacred  place  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  their  rivals,  holding 
that  it  would  disturb  the  balance  of  the  sacred  places  among  the 
rival  sects  in  Jerusalem!  The  Spofifordites,who  made  the  orig- 
inal trouble,  are  partly  inspired  by  the  Greeks  and  partly  and 
avowedly  by  their  hatred  of  the  Protestant  missionaries, and  the 
end  is  not  yet  in  sight.  But  we  have  the  money  and  the  new 
site  with  a  substantial  wall  about  it,  so  that  we  need  not  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  continuance  of  the  factional  quarrel. 

I  am  bound  to  admit  that  the  decorations,  worship  and 
worshippers,  in  these  so-called  "Christian"  churches  did  not 
impress  me  as  one  whit  more  dignified  or  elevating  than  the 
Buddhism  of  Japan  and  Siam,  nor  anything  hke  as  spiritual  as 


21 

the  worship  of  the  Moslem  mosques.  I  can  understand  the  con- 
tempt of  the  Turk  for  such  Christianity.  I  walked  about  the 
sacred  city  with  conflicting  emotions,  as  I  realized  that  these 
streets  were  once  trod  by  holy  feet,  and  that  these  places  were 
associated  with  prophets  and  apostles  and  with  so  many  events 
connected  with  the  birth  of  our  religion,  but  I  felt  humiliated 
as  I  saw  indubitable  evidences  of  the  rankest  superstition  and 
fanaticism.  The  first  and  deepest  impression  of  the  traveler  is 
that^^hristianity  is  dying  in  the  land  of  its  birth.  The_ second 
impression  is  equally  painful — that  the  greatest  hindrance  to  the 
revival  of  Christianity  is  the  "Christian."  The  Moslem  rules  the 
land  where  the  Messiah  appeared,  and  from  innumerable 
minarets  the  people  are  daily  reminded  that  Mohammed  and  not 
Christ  is  the  Prophet  of  God. 

And  yet  it  was  almost  a  relief  to  visit  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
in  the  Temple  area.  After  the  tawdry,  tinsel  glitter  of  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  the  ostentatious  and  tasteless  dis- 
play of  gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones — the  statue  of  Mary 
alone  blazing  with  jewels  said  to  be  worth  millions  of  dollars, 
— the  dirty,  unkempt  appearance  of  walls  and  courts,  the  empty 
mummeries  of  ignorant  priests  and  the  contemptuous  expression 
of  the  Moslem  sentries, — it_was  a  relief  to  walk  about  the  clean, 
spacious,  orderly  Mosques  of  Omar  and  el  Aksa.  Their  fur- 
nishings and  decorations  are  rich  .but  chaste  as  compared  with 
the  overdone  gorgeousness  of  the  "Christian"  churches.  I  felt 
more  reconciled  to  Moslem  occupation  as  I  noted  the  solemnity 
and  dignity  of  the  Temple  area  which  the  Moslem  holds,  and 
which  no  "Christian"  is  permitted  to  enter  without  a  permit 
issued  by  his  Consul  and  a  Turkish  attendant  to  see  that  he 
behaves  himself.  The  Mohammedan  certainly  keeps  his  part  of 
the  sacred  places  in  a  way  more  befitting  their  historic  associa- 
tions. 

THE  PROTESTANT  EFFORT. 

In  this  land  of  such  numerous  and  various  superstitions, 
the  Protestant  Church  is  trying  to  revive  a  purer  spiritual  faith. 
The  people  have  souls  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  of  other  parts  of 
Asia,  and  presumably  those  souls  are  as  dear  to  the  heart  of 
Him  who  died  that  men  might  live.  That  they  are  a  people  of 
^    intellectual  capacity  their  history  plainly  shows.     Few  nations 


22 


can  point  to  such  a  wonderful  past.  Those  whom  I  personally 
met  impressed  me  as  intelligent  and  kindly.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  anywhere  in  Asia  a  finer  body  of  men  than  the  elders 
and  leading  members  of  many  of  our  Syrian  Churches. 

Even  apart  from  the  character  of  the  people  there  is  a 
reason  for  missionary  work  here  which  may  indeed  be  called 
sentimental,  but  which  is  nevertheless  strong  in  every  Chris- 
tian's heart.  It  is  intolerable  that  the  land  where  Prophets 
spoke,  in  which  Christ  was  born,  and  where  God  revealed  Him- 
self to  men,  should  be  allowed  to  lapse  into  utter  heathenism  and 
superstition.  The  motive  of  the  old  Crusaders  was  not  bad 
though  their  methods  were  so  unwise.  The  modern  Christian 
Crusader  goes  to  Syria  and  Palestine  not  armed  with  carnal 
weapons  to  wrest  the  land  from  the  Turk  with  violence  and 
blood,  but  he  goes  as  the  ambassador  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  to 
teach  the  young,  to  heal  the  sick,  to  distribute  the  Word  of  God, 
and  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  good-will  to  men. 

I  am  not  sorry  that  the  presence  of  other  evangelical  agen- 
cies in  Palestine  proper  frees  us  from  the  duty  of  sending  mis- 
)   sionaries  to  that  region,  and  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  has 
been  assigned  the  more  promising  field  of  Syria.     Here  we  have 
a  reasonably  clear  field.     The  Irish  Presbyterian  Church  has  a 
station  at  Damascus  which  was  originally  established  for  the 
Jews,  but  which  quickly  found  that  element  of  the  population 
so  difficult  to  reach  that  it  soon  directed  its  energies  toward  the 
nominal    Christian    sects.     The    British    Syrian    Schools    for 
women  and  girls  will  be  separately  mentioried.     The  United 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  a  mission  for  the  Jews  in  Beirut. 
.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  has  a  considerable  force  in 
Palestine.     The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States  has  a  small  work  at  Latakai  among  the  Nusaireeyeh,  and 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England  has  a  mission  at  Aleppo 
for  the  Jews.     The  English  Friends  have  a  considerable  work 
at  Brummana  with  several  outstations,and  the  Mildmay  Mission 
has  a  small  work,  chiefly  medical,  at  Baakleen  near  Dier  ul 
Komr.    There  are,  besides,  several  independent  workers,  promi- 
;  nent  among  whom  are  Miss  Proctor's  boys'  and  girls'  boarding 
I  schools  at  Shweifat,  and  Miss  Taylor's  school  for  Moslem  girls 
i  in  Beirut.     The  American  Board  turned  over  all  its  work  in 
Syria  to  the  Presbyterians  in  the  readjustment  of  1870,  and  now 


23 

confines  its  work  in  Asiatic  Turkey  to  Asia  Minor.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  the  Presbyterian  Board  is  the  chief  evangelical 
agency  conducting  general  missionary  work  in  that  part  of 
Syria  where  all  our  mission  stations  are  located,  and  that  the 
responsibility  for  the  evangelization  of  that  region  rests  in  a 
special  sense  upon  us. 

The  original  aim  of  Protestant  Missions  in  Asiatic  Turkey 
was  not  to  found  a  separate  church  but  to  purify  the  nominal 
Christian  sects.  This  was  believed  to  be  the  first  step  toward 
the  conversion  of  the  Moslem  world.  It  was  thought  that  as 
these  ancient  bodies  had  the  Bible,  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
many  of  the  outward  forms  of  Christianity,  it  would  be  wiser  to 
try  to  revive  in  them  a  spiritual  faith.  Great  hopes  were  enter- 
tained that  they  would  welcome  the  preaching  of  the  pure 
Gospel  and  that  they  would  again  become  true  witnesses  for 
Christ,  and  thus,  not  only  remove  the  reproach  of  Christendom, 
but  exert  a  powerful  influence  for  righteousness  upon  the  Mos- 
lem world.  But  these  expectations  were  soon  disappointed. 
The  priests  and  monks  and  nuns  were  too  ignorant,  false  and 
corrupt.  While  there  were  many  individual  instances  of  kind- 
ness and  occasionally  even  of  co-operation,  yet  the  hierarchies 
were,  as  a  rule,  bitter  in  their  opposition  to  Protestantism.  Of 
course,  they  are  supported  in  this  by  the  French  Jesuits  and  the 
Russians,  with  whom  indeed  several  of  these  sects  are  now 
affiliated. 

True,  Robert  College  at  Constantinople  still  adheres  to  the 
policy  of  making  no  efifort  to  induce  its  students  to  become 
Christians.  Daily  prayers,  curriculum  Bible  study  and  Sun- 
day services  are  compulsory.  I  regret  that  the  scope  of  this 
Report  does  not  permit  a  full  account  of  this  splendid 
institution.  Its  spiritual  tone  is  as  high  as  its  useful- 
ness is  great.  But'President  Washburne  and  many  of 
the  missionaries  deem  it  wiser  for  a  student  to  stay  in  his 
own  church  as  a  vital  Christian,  as  his  influence  there  is  greater 
than  it  is  outside  of  it.  But  while  a  college  can  adopt  this 
policy,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  for  a  mission  to  follow  it  in  its 
church  work.  The  missionaries  were  not  permitted  to  preach 
in  the  ritualistic  churches  of  the  "sects."  They  could  not  work 
under  the  authority  of  jealous  and  hostile  bishops  and  patri- 
archs.    The  few  righteous  men  could  not  change  the  character 


24 

of  the  vast,  festering  masses  of  corruption.  It  was  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  their  own  spiritual  lives  as  well  as  to  their 
influences  as  disciples  of  Christ  that  they  should  not  be  lost  in 
ithe  crowd  of  mere  formalists,  their  light  hidden  under  the 
bushel  of  heathenism  which  was  none  the  less  heathen  because  it 
called  itself  Christian.  Never  was  the  command  more  applic- 
able to  "come  out  from*  them  and  be  ye  separate." 

Moreover,  the  Turkish  Government  deals  with  the  Chris- 
tian sects  as  organized  bodies  and  not  as  individuals.  Each 
non-Moslem  sect  is  expected  to  have  a  corporate  existence  and 
to  have  a  head  or  other  representative  through  whom  all  inter- 
course with  the  Government  must  be  had.  A  man  who  is  not 
connected  with  some  such  body  is  an  outlaw.  He  cannot  marry 
or  hold  property.  He  has  no  standing  in  the  courts  and  there- 
fore no  redress  against  robber}^  or  violence.  In  Syria,  the  con- 
vert is  speedily  thrust  out  of  his  church  and  becomes  at  once  an 
outcast.  So  the  missionaries  were  early  forced  to  effect  a 
Protestant  organization.  In  1850,  the  Sultan  Abdul  Med j  id 
thus  recognized  Protestantism  as  one  of  the  legal  religions  of 
the  Empire  in  the  Imperial  Charter  of  Rights.  This  Protes- 
tant Sect,  as  it  is  called  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  sects,  is 
composed  of  the  communicants  connected  with  all  the  Protes- 
tant Boards  and  Societies  in  Turkey.  Of  course,  there  is  no 
"official  head,"  but  the  "Sect"  maintains  a  Vekil,  or  agent, 
in  Constantinople  w^ho  represents  the  Protestants  of  the  Empire 
in  any  official  communications.  Plowever  unfortunate  this  may 
be  deemed  in  theory,  it  is  an  absolute  necessity  under  Turkish 
law  where  every  man  who  is  not  a  Moslem  must  be  a  member 
of  some  "sect"  which  is  recognized  by  the  Government  and 
which  has  an  official  head  or  Vekil  with  whom  the  Government 
can  deal.  Hitherto,  the  cost  of  maintaining  this  Vekilate  has 
been  met  by  the  various  Boards  and  Societies,  our  share  being 
$250  a  year.  The  Board  will  have  to  continue  some  appropri- 
ation for  this  purpose,  but  I  think  that  the  expense  should  be 
more  largely  borne  by  the  native  churches^  as  the  Vekilate  is  for 
their  protection  rather  than  for  that  of  the  missionaries. 

AN  EDUCATIONAL  MISSION. 

Syria  is  pre-eminently  an  educational  mission  both  in  pro- 
portionate emphasis  upon  school  work  and  in  the  superior  char- 


acter  of  that  work.  Educational  yagrk  is  relatively  more  promi- 
nent than  in  most  other  fields,  because  the  conditions  of  the 
country  make  thel:hildren  the  only  element  of  the  population  to 
which  the  missionaries  have  free  access.  Direct  evangelistic 
work  among  tihe~Mosrefns~'is'not  yet  possible,  and  if  it  were 
attempted,  there  would  probably  be  immediate  violence  and  per- 
haps the  banishment  of  the  missionaries  from  the  country. 
Among  the  so-called  "Christian"  sects,  the  religious  suscepti- 
bilities of  adults  have  been  so  far  perverted  by  a  degraded  type 
of  Christianity  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  convert  them  to  the 
true  faith  than  if  they  had  never  known  Christianity.  A  false 
interpretation  of  the  truth  is  often  worse  than  total  ignorance 
of  it.  The  children,  however,  are  more  accessible.  They  im- 
press the  traveler  as  exceptionally  bright  and  promising.  No 
where  else  in  the  world  did  I  see  more  attractive  boys  and  girls. 

The  prodigal  expenditure  and  the  relentless  opposition 
of  the  French  and  Russian  priests  make  our  educational  work 
more  than  ordinarily  difficulty  and  yet  in  spite  of  these  difficul- 
ties, our  schools  have  retained  their  scholars,  and  have  steadily 
increased  their  influence  by  the  sheer  force  of  superiority. 
Many  Syrian  parents  are  ambitious  for  their  children.  The 
influx  of  new  ideas  and  the  letters  written  from  Egypt^  and 
America  by  the  Syrians  who  have  emigrated  to  those  countries 
have  given  to  multitudes  an  eager  desire  for  the  education 
whjch  they  see  to  be  indispejisable  to  success,  and  even  prejudice 
and  priestly  opposition  have  not  been  able  to  keep  the  brightest 
Syrian  boys  and  girls  away  from  our  mission  schools,  which 
are  far  and  away  the  best  schools  in  the  land. 

I  personally  visited  every  one  of  our  Boarding  Schools  in 
Syria  and  I  was  highly  gratified  by  the  character  of  their  work. 
In  three  particulars  they  are  notable : — 

First.  The  close  relation  between  missionaries  and  pupils. 
In  all  three  of  the  Girls'  Boarding  Schools,  the  missionaries 
live  in  the  school  building.  Nor  do  they  segregate  themselves 
in  spacious  apartments,  wholly  distinct  from  the  pupils,  though 
nominally  under  the  same  roof,  as  in  some  other  institutions  we 
visited.  In  Tripoli,  Beirut  and  Sidon  alike,  the  missionaries 
occupy  small  rooms  hardly  any  better  than  those  which  their 
pupils  occupy,  and  they  mingle  in  the  common  life  of  the  girls, 
the  relation  being  almost  as   intimate  as   that   in  the  home 


2(3. 

between  mother  and  children.  Such  a  life  involves  a  peculiar 
nervous  strain,  for  it  affords  little  opportunity  for  privacy  or 
freedom  from  care,  but  it  enables  the  missionary  to  exert  the 
maximum  influence  upon  her  pupils.  In  the  Boys'  Boarding 
Schools  the  relationship  is  almost  equally  close.  It  is,  of  course, 
not  so  practicable  for  a  man  with  a  family  to  live  in  a  boarding 
school  as  it  is  for  a  single  woman.  But  at  Sidon,  Suk  ul  Gharb, 
and  Shweir  the  missionaries  in  charge  of  the  boys'  boarding 
schools  live  in  immediate  juxtaposition  to  the  school  buildings, 
and  deeply  enter  into  the  lives  of  the  students. 

Second.  The  native  teachers  are  nearly  all  Christians,  or 
as  this  word  "Christian"  is  so  misunderstood  in  Syria,  Evan- 
gelical Protestants.  The  mission  attitude  on  this  subject  is  un- 
compromising. In  som.e  other  lands  I  found  missionaries  hold- 
ing in  theory  that  native  teachers  should  be  Christians,  but 
yielding  in  practice  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  them.  This 
difficulty  exists  in  Syria.  The  Mission  cannot  pay  salaries  that 
competent  teachers  can  command  in  other  'positions,  while  the 
temptation  to  emigrate  is  ahvays  strong.  But  the  Syria  mission- 
aries believe  thatjhere  is  no  use  in  having  a  school  at  all  unless 
those  who  hold  positions  of  influence  in  it  are  in  vital  sympathy 
with  the  missionary  purpose,  and  if  they  had  ta-jchoose 
.  4  between  a  superior  non-C_hristian_teacher,  and  an— ©rdinary 
y  Christian  teacher,  they  would  unhesitatingly  take  the 
Christian,  believing  that  mediocrity  with  spiritual  influence  is 
better  than  superiority  without  it.  The  Mission,  of  course, 
gives  a  reasonable  degree  of  latitude  for  exceptional  cases.  I 
found  a  few  teachers  who  were  not  enrolled  members  of  our 
church,  but  they  were  in  a  very  small  minority,  and  in  every 
case  such  a  teacher  was  personally  known  to  the  missionary  in 
charge  as  a  man  or  woman  of  unexceptionable  life  and  of  real 
sympathy  with  the  work  of  the  Mission.  There  is  no  such 
thing  in  all  Syria  as  a  Moslem  or  anti-Protestant  teacher.  That 
I  might  be  sure  of  the  Mission's  exact  position  on  this  question, 
I  asked  that  body  to  express  its  convictions  in  definite  form,  and 
the  result  was  the  unanimous  adoption  of  the  following : 

"Whereas,  it  is  desirable  for  the  Syria  Mission  to  make  a 
distinct  statement  upon  its  policy  with  regard  to  the  employ- 
ment of  non-Protest^nt  persons  as  teachers,  therefore,  Resolved 
— that  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Syria  Mission  that  no  outstation  of 


27 

Ithis  Mission  be  put  in  charge  of  a  helper  who  is  not  a  Protestant 
;  communicant,  and  that  no  school  be  placed  in  the  charge  of  a 
non-Protestant  communicant.  Assistant  teachers  should  be 
Protestants^ in  so  far  as  possible,  but  there  may  be  circumstances 
where  it  seems  advisable  to  employ  nominal  Christians  who  are 
of  good  character  though  not  Protestants  as  teachers '.  But  the 
number_of_such  non-Protestant  teachers  should  never  reach  a 
majority  ixi  any  one  school." 

Third.  The  third  notable  characteristic  is  spiritual  influ- 
ence. As  one  of  the  missionaries  expressed  it — "Our  object  is 
not  merely  education,  but  the  spreading  and  strengthening  of 
the  ^cause  of  Christ."  The  Beirut  Female  Seminary  was  de- 
\  signed  by  its  founders  "as  one  of  the  agencies  for  evangelizing 
Syria  by  benefiting  intellectually  and  spiritually  the  pupils 
brought  under  its  instruction,  and  indirectly  to  carry  light  and 
blessing  through  them  to  their  homes  and  the  circles  of  their 
influence."  Thi_sjsjLhe  dominant  purposeof  all  the  schools.  The 
missionary  does  not  rely  simply  upon  silent  influence,  but  upon 
direct  though  tactful  effort  to  lead  the  scholars  to  Christ.  In  all 
the  schools  the  Bible  is  the  text-book  and  attendance  on  Bible 
classes,  daily  prayers,  devotional  meetings,  and  Sunday  services 
is  compulsory.  The  proficiency  of  some  of  those  Syrian  boys 
and  girls  in  Bible  study  is  extraordinary.  They  can  repeat 
\  whole  chapters  from  the  Bible,  and  answer  all  sorts  of  questions 
about  Bible  history  and  teaching  with  a' readiness  which  would 
surprise  an  American  Sunday-school  scholar.  Forty-one  pupils 
of  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary  have  joined  the  Beirut  Church 
since  1890,  and  several  others  have  joined  their  village 
churches.  All  the  other  boarding  schools  have  had  spiritual 
results,  some  of  them  notable  in  number  and  character. 
Boys  and  girls  are  converted  in  our  Syria  schools  in  spite  of 
difficulties  as  serious  as  exist  anywhere  in  the  world. 

Altogether  I  believe  that  our  Syrian  boarding  schools  are 
worthjT  of  unqualified  praise.  No  boy  or  girl  can  pass  through 
thern  witliout  being  powerfully  influenced  for  Christ.  They  are 
mission  schools  in  the  best  sense  pf  the  term. 

In    the    day    schools    it    is    not   possible    to   bring   pupils 

(under  such  close  personal  supervision  as  in  the  boarding 
schools.  The  Mission  nevertheless  exercises  great  care  in  the 
•  selection  of  native  teachers  and  in  the  superintendence  of  their 


28 

work.  In  many  towns  and  villages,  these  day  schools  are  indis- 
pensable to  any  missionary  work  at  all,  for  it  is  only  in  the 
school  that  the  missionary  can  get  a  foot-hold.  A  village  which 
would  not  permit  a  missionary  to  preach  will  allow  him  to  start 
a  school  for  the  education  of  its  children,  so  that  in  scores  of 
towns  faithful  work  is  being  done  for  Christ  with  the  young, 
and  through  them  with  the  parents  and  friends.  Unfortunately, 
the  retrenchments  of  several  years  ago  compelled  the  closing  of 
many  of  these  village  schools.  This  was  a  serious  harm,  for 
when  we  once  give  up  a  school  it  is  difficult  to  get  permission 
to  reopen  it,  and  sometimes  the  missionary  is  practically  ex- 
cluded from  the  place. 

While  a  few  of  these  schools  are  well  equipped,  many  of 
them  are  conducted  in  the  humblest  imaginable  way.  For  ex- 
ample, as  we  were  journeying  from  Zahleh  to  Ras  Baalbek,  we 
VjI/^  turned  aside  to  see  the  day  school  at  Tulyeh.  It  meets  in  a  one- 
story  building  rudely  made  of  the  rough  stones  picked  up  in 
the  neighborhood  and  plastered  with  mud.  Fifty  boys  meet  in 
a  little  room  on  one  side  of  a  small  court,  and  in  a  room  on  the 
other  side,  which,  by  actual  measurement,  I  found  to  be  six  by 
nine  feet  and  which  had  only  two  small  holes  for  windows,  I 
found  twenty-five  girls  huddled  upon  the  floor,  for  there  are  no 
chairs  or  desks,  while  several  girls  were  absent  on  account  of  the 
influenza  which  prevailed  in  the  village.  In  these  primitive  con- 
ditions, a  Christian  Syrian  teacher  was  faithfully  teaching  the 
boys,  and  his  wife,  who  is  a  graduate  of  our  Sidon  Girls'  Board- 
ing School,  was  teaching  the  girls.  There  are  dozens  of  such 
schools  in  Syria,  and  in  them  loving,  faithful  work  is  being  done. 
Out  of  them  come  the  brightest  students  for  our  boarding 
schools  and  the  college  preparatory  department,  and  even  those 
who  go  no  further  are  changed  for  time  and  for  eternity  by  the 
influences  under  which  they  are  brought.  In  an  address  pre- 
j  sented  to  me  by  the  Rev.  Murad  Haddad  on  behalf  of  the 
Protestants  of  Zahleh,  the  beneficent  results  of  our  school  work 
are  set  forth  as  follows  : 

"About  seventy  years  ago,  som^e  of  the  American  mission- 
aries arrived  in  Syria  and  began  their  works  of  charity  which 
brought  spiritual,  temporal  and  moral  benefit  to  the  people. 
They  opened  schools  for  instructing  the  children  in  many  places. 
Knowledge  then  began  to  spread  after  it  had  been  nearly  extinct 


29 

in  this  country  and  its  shining  was  Hke  the  beaming  of  the 
sun.  You  could  have  entered  a  town  of  one  or  two  thousand, 
even  thousands  of  people,  and  there  would  not  have  been  enough 
of  those  who  could  read  and  write  to  equal  the  fingers  on  'your 
hands.  So  if  one  needed  something  read  or  if  he  wished  a 
letter  written  he  had  to  beg  the  favor  of  perhaps  the  only  man 
in  town  who  could  do  it  or  even  make  accounts  for  him.  But 
this  is  now  changed  because  of  the  efficient  instrumentalities 
that  have  been  mentioned  and  the  condition  of  affairs  is  re- 
versed, for  those  who  cannot  read  and  write  may  now  be  counted 
upon  your  fingers.  What  a  host  of  teachers,  doctors  and  pharma- 
cists has  gone  forth  from  the  College !  What  a  host  of  teachers 
from  the  female  seminaries,  hundreds  upon  hundreds  well  cul- 
tured, who  can  do  good  work  for  culture  and  elevation !  And 
not  only  that,  but  this  has  been  a  cause  for  arousing  the  other 
sects  to  seek  for  education  and  morality.  Schools  have  been 
opened  in  general  and  the  work  has  extensively  increased." 

If  he  be  a  benefactor  of  the  race  who  makes  two  blades  of 
grass  grow  where  one  grew  before,  what  shall  be  said  of  the 
missionary  who  takes  a  half-naked  urchin  out  of  the  squalor  of 
a  mud  hut,  where  both  sexes  and  all  ages  herd  like  pigs,  teaches 
him  to  bathe  himself,  to  respect  woman,  to  tell  the  truth,  to  earn 
an  honest  living  and  to  serve  God.  It  means  even  more  for  the 
girl§J_han  for  the  boys,  for  Asia  despises  women.  Is  there  any 
work  more  Christlike  than  the  gathering  of  those  neglected  ones 
into  clean  dormitories,  and  showing  them  the  meaning  of  virtue, 
of  inchistry,  and  of  that  which  does  not  exist  in  all  Asi^  except 
where  the  missionary  has  made  jt,  a  pure,  sweet.  Christian 
home?  Contrast  the  boarding  school  graduate  with  the 
heathen  woman  on  the  streets  of  any  Oriental  land.  Almost  in- 
variably you  can  recognize  her  by  the  unmistakable  signs  of 

{  superior  neatness,  self-respect  and  character.  A  memorial 
column  in  Beirut  erected  in  1894  fittingly  marks  the  place  where 
in  1835  was  erected  the  first  building  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
for  the  education  of  girls.  The  opening  of  that  school  was  an 
epoch  in  the  development  of  Asia,  for  no  community  can  rise 
hijgher  than  the  level  of  its  women.     To  a  far  greater  extent 

,  than  meuj  they  determine  the  moral  character  of  a  people. 
Decent  society  cannot  be  built  on  a  foundation  qf^  the  harem  and 
the  zenana,  and  therefore  the  effort  to  regenerate  any  land  must 


30 

!  assign  a  large  place  to  the  work  of  lifting  girls  out  of  the  moral 
!  cesspools  of  Oriental  life  to  the  purer  realm  where  woman  is  the 
equal  helpmeet  of  man  and  not  simply  the  slave  of  his  lust.  The 
meaning  of  our  educational  work  as  a  whole,  for  both  girls  and 
boys,  was  inspiringly  illustrated  on  the  Sabbath  evening  when 
I  stood  on  a  Sidon  housetop  and  watched,  the  tender  glories  of  a 
Syrian  sunset  softly  fall  upon  mountain  and  sea  and  sky.  Sud- 
denly, from  the  minaret  of  a  neighboring  mosque  sounded  the 
muezzin's  call,  "Come  to  prayer.  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and 
Mohammed  is  the  Prophet  of  God."  The  men  in  sight  bowed 
themselves  at  those  sonorous  tones.  But  hardly  had  they  died 
away,  when  from  the  chapel  of  our  school  beneath,  rose  the 
fresh  young  voices  of  io6  boys  singing : 

"Jesus  paid  it  all, 
All  to  Him  I  owe." 

It  was  a  mere  coincidence,  but  it  eloquently  voiced  the  sig- 
nificance of  our  school  work.  Mohammed  or  Christ !  The 
former  has  the  men  of  this  generation,  but  in  our  mission 
schools  Christ  has  the  men  of  the  next. 

The  attainment  of  self-support  in  mission  schools  is  excep- 
tionally difficult  in  Syria.  Instead  of  the  friendship  of  officials  as 
in  Siam,  and  the  avowed  sympathy  and  financial  co-operation 
of  the  Government  as  in  India,  our  Syrian  Mission  has  to 
deal  with  authorities  who  hamper  it  in  every  possible  manner. 
Even  more  trying  is  the  competition  of  the  Russian  and  French 
Catholic  priests.  They  are  particularly  numerous  in  Syria. 
There  is  more  than  a  suspicion  that  they  are  not  only  mission- 
aries, but  quasi-political  emissaries  of  their  respective  govern- 
ments. Everybody  knows  that  at  no  distant  day  the  Turkish 
Empire  will  be  disintegrated.  Russia  and  France  have  their 
eyes  on  Syria,  and  are  doing  everything  in  their  power  to 
quietly  secure  a  foothold  there.  Both  the  Russians  and  the 
■  French  Catholics  emphasize  educational  work.  They  erect 
handsome  and  expensive  buildings,  and  they  not  only  give  free 
tuition,  but,  as  a  rule,  free  books,  and  in  some  instances  free 
board  also,  virtually  compensating  parents  for  sending  children 
to  them.  In  Baalbek,  I  found  only  eleven  boarders  in  the  hand- 
some  stone  building  of  the   British   Syrian   Girls'   Boarding 


31 

School.  There  were  a  hundred  a  few  years  ago,  but  a  new 
Greek  Catholic  School  makes  such  tempting  offers  to  parents 
that  it  is  impossible  for  the  British  Syrian  missionaries  to  hold 
their  pupils.  The  difficulty  is  also  met  by  our  day  schools.  It 
is  impossible  to  make  them  wholly  self-supporting,  for  parents 
will  not  bear  all  the  expenses  of  a  Protestant  school  and  in  ad- 
dition the  priestly  threat  of  ostracism  in  this  life  and  eternal 
torment  in  the  next,  when  there  is  a  free  Catholic  or  Moslem 
school  near  by.  We  are  not  financially  able  to  compete  with 
such  lavish  expenditure,  nor  would  we  do  so  if  we  could.  We 
do  not  believe  in  that  kind  of  missionary  work.  Our  buildings 
are  modest,  and  while  tuition  fees  are  small,  we  insist  that  when- 
ever parents  are  able  to  pay  something  they  should  do  so.  We 
are  therefore  obliged  to  rely  for  success  upon  the  superior  char- 
acter of  our  schools.  That  superiority  is  marked,  and  it  is 
enabling  us  to  continue  our  work,  but  it  will  readily  be  seen  how 
trying  our  position  is  among  an  Oriental  people  whom  centuries 
of  oppression  have  made  dependent,  and  who  are  constitution- 
ally disposed  to  get  something  for  nothing  whenever  they  can. 

But  in  spite  of  these  formidable  obstacles,  a  part  of 
the  cost  of  our  day  schools  is  borne  locally.  At  the  Ttilyeh 
school,  already  referred  to,  the  parents  pay  for  rent,  books  and 
all  incidentals,  the  Mission  providing  only  the  native  teacher's 
salary,  which,  however,  is  of  course  the  largest  single  item  of 
expense — $120  gold  for  the  two  teachers.  At  Baalbek,  the 
parents  of  forty  enrolled  pupils  had  paid  only  eighty  piasters 
in  three  months  prior  to  my  visit.  The  helper's  salary  here  is 
rather  high  as  compared  with  the  scale  in  several  other  mis- 
sions, $204  gold.  But  beside  teaching  in  the  school,  he  preaches 
regularly  in  four  villages,  including  Baalbek. 

Seven  of  the  twenty-three  day  schools  in  the  Tripoli  field 
are  wholly  self-supporting  and  six  others  are  about  half  sup- 
ported locally.  In  the  whole  Mission,  we  have  an  even  hundred 
day  schools.  The  cost  of  maintaining  them  is  considerable  and 
it  might  be  well  for  the  Mission  to  consider  whether  in  some 
places  the  fees  might  not  be  wisely  increased.  Protestant  Chris- 
tians, in  particular,  should  pay  according  to  their  ability  for  the 
education  of  their  children. 

Still  it  must  be  remembered  that  day  schools  have  a  relation 
to  evangelistic  work  in  Syria  that  they  do  not  have  in  some 


32 

other  lands.  In  Korea,  Siam  and  Laos  for  example,  opportuni- 
ties for  direct  evangelistic  work  are  so  ample,  that  day  schools 
are  not  needed  to  create  them.  In  those  lands,  therefore,  the 
object  of  our  day  schools  is  primarily  to  educate  the  children 
of  the  church — to  conserve  evangelistic  results  rather  than  to 
produce  them.  Such  schools  can  therefore  be  less  numerous, 
while  the  parents  can  be  made  to  assume  a  responsibility  for 
them  which  cannot  be  enforced  upon  Moslems  and  Catholics. 
But  in  Syria  the  object  of  the  day  school  is  not  only  to  educate 
the  children  of  the  church  but,  as  I  have  already  explained,  to 
secure  a  foothold  for  the  Gospel  in  villages  which  would  other- 
wise be  almost  if  not  quite  inaccessible.  They  are  therefore 
vital  to  our  evangelistic  work  and  it  is  sometimes  expedient  to 
maintain  one  largely  at  mission  expense  in  order  to  give  the 
itinerating  missionary  a  chance  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

In  the  boarding  schools,  the  fees  are  designed  to  come 
nearer  to  self-support.  It  was  a  long  time  before  parents  could 
be  induced  to  feel  much  responsibility  for  the  education  of  their 
children,  particularly  the  girls.  But  steady  progress  has  been 
made.  Now  our  girls'  boarding  schools  are  sought  by  parents 
who  are  ambitious  to  have  their  daughters  obtain  the  best  educa- 
tion that  the  country  affords.  At  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary, 
for  examiple,  the  "full  pay"  is  1300  piasters  ($58.50).  Those 
who  wish  foreign  food  pay  750  piasters  extra  for  it.  Music 
lessons  are  another  extra  and  even  then  are  given  only  to  full 
pay  pupils,  the  additional  charge  being  600  piasters  for  three 
half-hour  lessons  weekly,  450  for  two  and  275  for  one  lesson. 
Day  scholars  pay  75  piasters  in  the  primary  department,  150  in 
the  preparatory  and  300  in  the  regular  course.  Girls  who  cannot 
pay  the  full  fees  and  who  are  especially  recommended  by  the 
missionaries  pay  what  they  can,  but  the  minimum  is  600  pias- 
ters. The  highest  sum  paid  by  any  pupil  was  2575  piasters. 
This  schedule  brought  into  the  treasury  of  the  Seminary  last 
year  from  the  165  pupils  in  all  departments,  68,095  piasters,  of 
which  58,349  were  for  board  and  tuition,  6,124  for  music  and 
3,623  for  sundries.  The  average  paid  for  board  and  tuition  by 
the  58  boarders  was  about  1,000  piasters  ($45)- 

At  the  Tripoli  Girls'  Boarding  School,  the  fees  are  ten 
Turkish  pounds  ($45  gold)  for  boarders,  and  from  a  quarter 
of  a  pound  to  two  pounds  for  day  scholars,  according  to  the 


33 

grade.  This  yields  a  revenue  which  pays  about  half  Ihe  ex- 
penses of  the  school,  as  some  concessions  have  to  be  made  to 
scholars  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  full  fees.  In  the  Sidon  Girls' 
School  the  fees  range  lower.  Parents  are  poorer  and  while  all 
pupils  pay  something,  few  reach  the  nominal  fee  of  800  piasters. 
In  all  the  girls  boarding  schools,  the  girls  are  required  to  help 
in  the  work.     Miss  Charlotte  Brown  says : 

"We  try  to  keep  the  school  simple  and  not  too  much  af- 
fected by  foreign  customs.  The  love  of  foreign  fashions  has 
become  so  widespread  throughout  the  land,  that  we  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  entirely  banish  the  extravagant  and  gaudy  clothes  that 
some  bring  with  them.  If  though,  a  mother  sends  her  little 
girl  to  school  with  but  one  thick  dress  for  winter  wear  and  that 
her  own  wedding  dress  of  purple  plush  made  over  for  her 
daughter,  what  are  we  to  do?  All  are  on  work  divisions  and 
sweep,  mop,  dust,  wash  dishes  and  help  in  the  weekly  wash  in 
turn.  The  members  of  the  two  highest  classes  help  in  the  iron- 
ing. Sev.'ing  has,  of  course,  a  prominent  place  on  the  curri- 
culum." 

At  the  Shweir  Boys'  Boarding  School,  the  fees  are  ten 
Turkish  pounds  a  year  for  boarders,  one  English  pound  for  boys 
who  sleep  at  the  school  but  furnish  their  own  food,  and  ninety- 
two  piasters  for  day  pupils  (three  different  kinds  of  money  used 
at  this  one  school  giving  some  idea  of  the  state  of  the  currency 
in  Syria.)  Here  also,  as  indeed  in  all  institutions  at  home  as 
well  as  abroad,  some  pupils  are  too  poor  to  pay  the  full  fees,  but 
enough  do  pay  them  to  cover  all  the  expenses  of  the  school  ex- 
cept the  salary  of  the  three  native  teachers.  At  Suk  ul  Gharb, 
the  annual  fees  are  ten  English  pounds  ($50  gold)  for  boarders, 
two  pounds  and  a  half  for  the  boys  who  sleep  at  the  school  and 
furnish  their  own  food,  and  one  pound  for  day  pupils,  and  as  at 
Shweir  the  income  pays  all  the  expenses  but  the  salaries  of  the 
six  native  teachers,  which  aggregate  ii86. 

These  are  fair  examples  of  the  policy  of  the  Syria  Mission 
in  this  respect.  I  believe  that  our  Syrian  missionaries  are  en- 
deavoring to  bring  their  schools  as  near  to  self-support  as  the 
circumstances  permit.  There  are  indeed  some  inequalities 
which  it  would  be  wise  to  correct,  but  the  Mission  has  already 
appointed  a  committee  to  "confer  in  regard  to  the  curricula  and 
tuition  in  the  several  schools,  and  to  report  at  the  next  annual 


34 

meeting  with  plans  for  pressing  self-support  in  one  or  all  of 
these  schools."  As  it  is,  our  fees  are  higher  than  those  of  any 
other  schools  I  visited  in  Syria.  The  British  Syrian  Girls' 
School  at  Baalbek  charges  six  French  pounds  for  boarders  and 
nothing  at  all  for  day  scholars,  while  in  the  Tabeetha  Mission 
in  Jaffa  only  a  minority  of  the  pupils  pay  the  nominal  fees  of 
ten  pounds  a  year  for  boarders,  and  fifty  francs,  including  din- 
ner, for  day  pupils,  the  majority  of  the  scholars  being  free.  Miss 
Butchart,  who  superintends  and  personally  supports  the  four 
British  Syrian  Schools  in  Damascus,  charges  no  fees  at  all,  on 
account  of  the  competition  of  the  Russians,  who  give  not  only 
free  tuition,  but  books,  clothing,  bridal  dresses  and  medical  at- 
tendance. In  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Girls'  Boarding  School,  in 
the  same  city,  the  annual  charge  is  nominally  800  piasters,  but 
actually  only  400.  The  day  schools  are  entirely  free  for  Arabic, 
though  there  is  a  fee  for  English. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  practicability  of 
consolidating  some  of  our  boarding  schools  in  Syria.  .  We  have 
three  for  boys,  namely,  Sidon,  Suk  ul  Gharb  and  Shweir,  and 
three  for  girls,  namely,  Beirut,  Tripoli  and  Sidon.  At  the  mis- 
sion meeting  which  was  held  in  Beirut  during  my  visit,  this 
question  was  thoroughly  traversed.  After  full  discussion,  it 
was  unanimously  voted,  with  my  hearty  concurrence,  "That  it 
is  the  sense  of  the  Mission  that  no  one  of  the  three  boarding 
schools  for  girls  can  be  spared  from  the  scheme  of  our  work, 
and  that  loss  rather  than  gain  would  result  from  any  union  of 
two  or  more  of  these  schools  in  one  place." 

The  Mission  gave  careful  consideration  to  the  question 
whether  a  disproportionate  amount  of  its  strength  and  resources 
Avas  being  expended  on  the  boys'  schools,  and  whether  in  view 
of  the  comparatively  small  territory  occupied  by  the  Mission, 
the  number  could  not  be  reduced  without  loss  of  serious  effi- 
ciency, particularly  as  the  schools  at  Shweir  and  Suk  ul  Gharb 
were  not  founded  by  the  Mission,  but  became  so  related  to  our 
work  that  it  did  not  appear  expedient  to  refuse  to  adopt  them. 
The  discussion  of  this  subject  was  long  and  frank  and  as  able  as 
any  debate  I  ever  heard  in  any  ecclesiastical  body  in  America. 
All  sides  of  the  question  were  presented,  but  the  conclusion  was 
almost  unanimous  that  the  circumstances  make  it  indispensable 
llat  the  Mission  should  have  three  boarding  schools  for  boys. 


35 

The  question,  however,  is  complicated  by  the  desire  of  the 
Mission  to  start  another  boarding  school  in  the  Tripoli  field. 
The  reasons  for  this  are  strong.     All  three  of  our  present  boys' 
boarding  schools  are  in  the  central  and  southern  part  of  our 
field,  while  the  northern  part  which  includes  half  the  territory 
of  the  entire  Mission  has  none  at  all.     This  condition  is  intensi- 
fied by  the  fact  that  this  field  is  geographically  and  commercially 
independent  of  the  rest  of  Syria.     The  people  are  more  homog- 
eneous, both  in  habits  and  in  religion.     They  are  moreover 
poorer  and  less  able  to  send  their  children  to  distant  schools. 
The  Protestant  community  is  exceptionally  harmonious,  united 
and  aggressive.     Nor  is  the  population  small.     This  northern 
field  includes  three  large  cities,  Hamath,  with  67,500  people. 
Hums  with  60,000  and  Tripoli  with  36,000,  besides  innumerable 
villages,  some  6f  them  of  considerable  size.     In  all  this  large 
area  there  is  absolutely  no  evangelical  agency  whatever,  except 
our  Presbyterian  work.     In  other  parts  of  Syria,  a  boarding 
school  is  within  easy  reach,  but  this  great  northern  section  has 
no  Protestant  boarding  school  for  boys  of  any  description,  so 
that  the  French  Catholic  institution  at  Tripoli  and  the  Orthodox 
Greek  school  at  Hums  are  in  unchecked  control  of  the  educa- 
tional field.     If  in  New  England  the  majority  of  thfe  pupils  of 
an  institution  come  from  its  vicinage,  how  much  more  will  this 
be  true  in  a  land  of  poverty,  ignorance,  age-long  conservatism 
and  indisposition  to  travel.     In  these  circumstances,  it  is'  re- 
markable, and  at  the  same  time  significant  of  the  ripeness  of  the 
field,  that  no  less  than  one  hundred  boys  from  the  Tripoli  region 
are  now  attending  our  Shweir  and  Suk  ul  Gharb  boarding 
schools  and  the  preparatory  department  of  the  College.     But 
there  are  thousands  of  others  who  could  be  reached  by  a  local 
school,  who  are  now  getting  no  education  at  all.    The  Mission 
therefore,  strongly  feels  that  there  ought  to  be  a  boys'  boarding 
school  in  the  Tripoli  field,  and  I  am  in  hearty  accord  with  this 
conviction. 

We  carefully  considered  the  question  whether  the  school 
should  be  located  in  Tripoli  city  or  in  Hums.  I  visited  both 
places  and  discussed  the  subject  in  the  conferences  which  were 
held.  In  Hums  the  Protestants  enthusiastically  presented  to 
me  the  following  petition : 


3^^ 

"We  report  with  pleasure  our  firm  purpose  to  press  for- 
ward toward  full  support  of  our  own  church,  at  the  same  time 
we  learn  with  pleasure  the  united  desire  of  the  churches  of  this 
Presbytery  to  have  a  boys'  boarding  school  in  this  district ;  but 
w^e  fear  a  bald  request  for  such  a  school  will  be  unjust  when 
you  rightly  look  to  us  for  fruit.  We  ask,  therefore,  your  help 
in  starting  a  boarding  school  for  boys  in  the  City  of  Hums  on 
a  small  scale  involving  an  annual  outlay  of  12,000  piasters,  of 
which  we  pledge  the  payment  of  a  half.  The  present  premises 
could  be  made  available  by  expending  on  it  a  sum  equivalent  to 
four  or  five  years  rent  of  other  suitable  premises.  When  new 
buildings  are  needed,  Mr.  Rafool  Nasser  pledges  himself  to  con- 
tribute $300  for  this  purpose.  We  ask  the  transfer  of  an 
American,  missionary  from  Tripoli  to  Hums  to  take  charge  of 
Jthis  school.  We  fully  believe  that  this  school  will  encourage 
the  church  and  facilitate  plans  for  full  self-support." 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Church  at  Hums  is 
already  paying  half  of  its  pastor's  salary  and  half  the  salaries 
of  three  day  school  teachers,  so  that  it  would  be  self-supporting 
now  if  it  were  to  concentrate  its  gifts  on  the  pastor's  salary.  In 
addition,  it  has  recently  erected  a  chapel  at  a  cost  of  $400  gold 
and  it  now  proposes  to  open  without  aid  a  second  day  school  for 
girls.  I  ventured,  on  behalf  of  the  Board,  to  express  high  ap- 
preciation of  the  spirit  which  these  brethren  at  Hums  mani- 
fested. They  are  a  devoted  company  of  God's  people.  Their 
pastor  is  a  faithful  and  efficient  leader,  while  Mr.  Rafool  Nasser, 
the  generous  member  who  offers  the  money  for  the  land  and 
who  has  already  donated  a  neat  and  substantial  building  for  our 
day  school  in  the  growing  part  of  the  city  just  outside  the  wall, 
■impressed  me  as  a  business  man  of  unusual  intelligence  and 
ability.  That  there  is  a  large  field  here  cannot  be  doubted. 
With  seventy  resident  communicants  of  such  energy,  and 
twenty-five  more  in  the  adjacent  villages,  with  an  enrollment  in 
the  three  day  schools  of  202,  of  whom  more  than  two-thirds  are 
boys,  with  the  metropolitan  importance  of  the  city  increased  by 
the  new  railroad  and  with  the  still  larger  city  of  Hamath  within 
an  hour's  ride  by  rail.  Hums  is  a  center  of  no  small  strategic 
value. 

With  all  these  advantages,  however,  it  still  remains  true 
that  Hums  is  a  strongly  Moslem  city,  fully  40,000  of  its  people 
bein?  of  that  faith.     Of  the  remainder,  16,000  are  Greek  Chris- 


37 

tians,  1,500  Jacobites,  1,500  Catholics  and  1,000  Protestants. 
Hamatli  is  even  more  strongly  Moslem,  only  6,000  of  its  inhabi- 
tants being  Greek  Christians,  1,500  Jacobites,  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants combined,  while  no  less  than  60,000  are  orthodox  Mos- 
lems. The  Moslem  opposition  at  Hums  is  so  strenuous,  and  the 
character  of  Turkish  rule  so  unfavorable,  that  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  a  permit  to  erect  a  new  building  could  not  be  secured, 
and  certain  that  a  boys'  boarding  school  there  would  be 
hampered  by  Turkish  authorities  in  every  possible  way.  More- 
over, as  we  have  no  resident  missionaries  at  Hums,  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  boys"  boarding  school  there  would  virtually  mean 
opening  another  station  with  all  that  would  be  involved  in 
new  missionaries,  property  and  annual  expenditure.  On  the 
other  hand,  Tripoli  is  already  one  of  the  prominent  stations  of 
the.  Syria  Mission,  while  the  boundary  of  the  Lebanon  District 
runs  so  close  to  the  city  that  it  would  be  practicable  to  locate 
the  school  within  it,  and  thus  secure  the  substantial  immunities 
of  that  Christian  government.  A  daily  diligence  runs  in  four- 
•teen  hours  over  the  splendid  road  between  Hums  and  Tripoli, 
and  it  would  therefore  be  easy  for  boys  from  Hums  and 
Hamath  to  reach  a  school  in  Tripoli.  Boys  from  Tripoli  would 
probably  not  go  to  a  school  at  Hums,  since  for  many  genera- 
tions Tripoli  has  been  the  port  of  northern  Syria  so  that  all  lines 
of  travel  converge  toward  it  rather  than  away  from  it.  The 
scale  of  living  is  higher  than  it  is  in  the  interior,  which  is  an 
objection;  but  for  that  reason  higher  fees  could  be  charged,  so 
that  the  difference  from  the  viewpoint  of  self-support  would  be 
small.  The  Tripoli  Christians  are  also  enthusiastic  in  their 
desire  for  a  school,  and  when  I  asked  them  what  they  could  do 
financially  to  meet  the  offers  of  the  Hums  people,  they  replied 
that  while  they  had  no  one  man  who  could  give  so  much  as 
Rafool  Nasser,  they  had  a  larger  number  who  could  pay  some- 
thing, so  that  the  total  raised  would  not  be  much  less  than  at 
Hums.  I  should  prefer  Hums  as  the  larger  and  more  centrally 
located  city  if  it  were  not  for  the  financial  difficulties  inseparable 
from  the  establishing  of  a  new  station  and  the  inexpediency  of 
subjecting  ourselves  to  the  innumerable  restrictions  of  Mo- 
hammicdan  officials.  But  these  objections  are  so  serious,  that  I 
agree  with  the  jNIission  that  it  would  be  wiser  to  locate  the 
school  at  Tripoli  where  it  can  be  affiliated  with  an  existing  sta- 


38 

tion  and  have  the  benefits  of  Lebanon  government.  Deeply, 
therefore,  as  I  regret  the  disappointment  to  the  brethren  at 
Hums,  I  unite  with  the  Mission  in  recommending  that  a  board- 
mg  school  for  boys  be  started  at  Tripoli  next  year,  rented 
quarters  to  be  occupied  if  necessary  till  the  way  is  clear  to 
build. 

I  doubt,  however,  whether  it  will  be  practicable  for  the 
Board  to  maintain  four  boarding  schools  for  boys  in  the  Syria 
Mission.  The  field  is  not  large  enough  to  justify  so  many  insti- 
tutions within  such  a  limited  area,  especially  as  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  has  a  large  preparatory  department  which 
is  in  effect  an  additional  boarding  school  for  boys.  Four 
boys'  schools  added  to  the  three  for  girls  would  make  seven 
boarding  schools  for  the  Mission,  and  as  the  Board  will  prob- 
ably be  unable  to  largely  increase  the  present  appropriations 
and  Mission  force,  the  Mission  could  not  maintain  so  many 
boarding  schools  without  diverting  a  serious  proportion  of 
its  financial  and  missionary  strength  from  evangelistic  work. 
Indeed  the  evangelistic  work  in  Syria'  is  suffering  now  for 
want  of  proportionate  emphasis.  Moreover  the  Lebanon  Sta- 
tion now  has  two  boarding  schools  for  boys  at  Suk  ul  Gharb 
and  Shweir,  and  if  we  add  the  preparatory  department  of  the 
College,  we  find  that  there  are  three  boarding  schools  for  boys 
bunched  in  the  neighborhood  of  Beirut.  A  new  school  at 
Tripoli,  therefore,  naturally  suggests  the  possibility  of  merging 
;the  Shweir  and  Suk  el  Gharb  Schools  and  transferring  the 
liberated  missionary  and  property  to  Tripoli. 

The  Mission  unanimously  assents  to  this,  but  there  is  a 
wide  difference  of  opinion  as  to  which  of  the  two  schools  should 
be  merged  into  the  other.  As  might  be  expected,  both  have 
their  friends.  A  majority  favors  the  transfer  of  the  Suk'  ul 
Gharb  School  to  Tripoli,  but  a  large  minority  prefers  the  trans- 
fer of  Shweir. 

While  I  incline  to  the  belief  that  the  new  school  at  Tripoli 
should  be  ultimately  provided  for  by  re-adjustments  at  one  of 
these  places,  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  forcing  a  consolidation 
at  this  time.  Both  schools  are  doing  a  splendid  work  in  the 
hands  of  thoroughly  capable  missionaries.  Both  are  in  the  full 
tide  of  their  prosperity,  being  crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity 
with  youths  of  splendid  promise.     It  is  a  great  thing  to  mould 


39 

for  God  such  a  body  of  young  men,  and  we  should  be 
quite  sure  of  our  ground  before  we  close  either  one.  The 
property  at  Shweir  consists  of  a  tract  of  land,  beautifully  situ- 
ated on  a  slope  of  the  mountain,  and  containing  a  comfortable 
residence  and  two  excellent  stone  buildings, one  for  recitations 
and  one  for  dormitory  and  dining  room.  The  Suk  ul  Gharb 
property  is  also  located  on  a  mountain  side  overlooking  Beirut 
and  comprises  two  lots,  on  one  of  which  stands  a  handsome 
two-story  stone  building,  while  on  the  other  lot  a  short  distance 
away  is  the  two-story  stone  byilding  used. for  a  dormitory.  The 
plant  of  either  of  the  schools  could  be  sold  for  an  amount  which 
would  give  a  good  start  to  the  new  institution  at  Tripoli,  though 
the  "wukf"  deed  of  Shweir  might  interpose  obstacles  to  a  sale. 
In  view  of  the  great  excellence  of  both  the  Suk  ul  Gharb  and  th^ 
Shweir  Schools,  the  divided  judgment  of  the  Mission  as  to 
which  one  should  be  transferred,  the  fact  that  the  new  school  in 
Tripoli  can  occupy  rented  quarters  for  a  year  or  two,  and  in 
particular  the  further  fact  that  the  Syrian  Protestant  College 
has  decided  to  open  a  primary  boarding  department  near  Beirut 
and  might  perhaps  be  disposed  to  buy  one  of  our  schools  for 
this  purpose,  I  think  it  would  be  wise  to  defer  a  decision  until 
God  makes  it  plainer  to  all  concerned  which  one  of  the  two 
institutions  had  better  be  transferred. 

Industrial  Training. 

The  largest  experiment  in  industrial  training  which  the 
Board  has  yet  made  is  in  connection  with  the  Gerard  Institute  at 
Sidon.  The  occasion  for  the  school  grew  out  of  the  fact  that 
while  the  mission  schools  and  the  College  were  turning  out 
teachers,  preachers  and  physicians,  there  was  no  self-supporting 
Protestant  community  which  could  maintain  them.  The  num- 
ber who  can  be  employed  by  the  Mission  is  necessarily  limited. 
What  are  the  others  to  do?  They  had  been  educated  away 
from  their  former  manner  of  life  but  not  educated  to  any  other 
in  which  they  could  support  themselves.  Accordingly  they  be- 
come restless,  discontented  and  sometimes  surly.  One  young 
man  was  heard  cursing  the  day  of  his  entrance  to  the  mission 
school.  His  education  had  fitted  him  only  for  professions  in 
which  the  Mission  could  guarantee  to  him  no  opening. 


40 

If  we  are  to  educate  in  a  country  whose  economic  con- 
ditions are  so  radically  wrong  as  they  are  in  Asia,  our  education 
must  have  reference  to  practical  needs.  We  must  train  the 
young  not  only  to  be  teachers  and  preachers,  but  to  be  carpen- 
ters, farmers,  blacksmiths,  shoemakers  and  tailors.  We  must 
dignify  honest  labor  among  a  people  who  deem  it  menial  to  toil 
with  their  hands.  Said  the  wise  Dr.  Shedd  of  Persia :  "There  is 
a  subject  that  w-eighs  heavily  on  my  heart  and  on  all  thoughtful 
lovers  of  the  people.  It  is  how  to  save  the  young  men  from  de- 
moralization. .  .  .  To  earn  a  respectable  living  is  very  difficult 
and  often  impossible.  Industrial  education  seems  to  be  the  only 
means  toward  the  solution  of  the  question.  It  is  possible  for  us 
to  have  a  department  of  instruction  at  the  college  devoted  to  in- 
dustrial arts  and  then  accept  all  the  boys  who  wish  to  come  and 
pay  their  way.  Then  put  them  into  a  course  of  industry  as  well 
as  intellectual  study,  so  that  they  will  have  a  well-grounded  edu- 
cation in  common  science,  morals,  and  the  Bible,  and  a  good  foun- 
dation for  character,  and  a  trade  with  which  to  earn  their  bread. 
The  sentiment  in  our  evangelical  church  will  strongly  support 
such  an  effort.  The  native  brethren  urge  us  to  try  some  such 
method,  to  make  labor  respected  and  profitable.  All  the  mis- 
sionaries feel  that  we  must  do  something  or  our  Church  and 
Christian  community  will  greatly  suft'er." 

Even  those  who  are  to  become  teachers  and  preachers  will 
be  benefited  by  following  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles 
in  learning  a  trade  w^hich  will  enable  them  to  earn  their  own  liv- 
ing,' while  in  many  of  our  scho'ols  industrial  training  would  af- 
ford a  means  of  self-help  to  pupils  who  are  unable  to  pay  the 
regular  tuition.  It  is  demoralizing  to  a  boy  to  give  him  some- 
thing for  nothing.  To  support  him  in  school  is  to  beget  the  ex- 
pectation of  support  tlirough  life.  If  he  cannot  pay  fees,  let  him^ 
pay  work  for  his  own  good  as  well  as  to  save  mission  funds. 

I  confess  to  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  about  this  phase  of 
educational  missions  in  many  lands  and  all  denominations.  Mis- 
sion schools  too  often  slavishly  follow  the  pattern  of  European 
and  American  institutions,  forgetting  that  conditions  are  radi- 
cally different  in  Asia  and  Africa.  This  is  in  part  the  fault  of 
the  Boards.  As  a  rule  they  have  sent  no  educators  to  the  field, 
except  young  ministers  fresh  from  college  and  theological 
seminary,  an  "educator"  being  generally  considered  a  young 


4i 

man  who  has  attained  special  proficiency  in  the  study  of  Latin 
and  Greek.  The  only  education  such  a  man  knows  anything 
about  is  the  classical  course  which  he  himself  took,  and  when 
he  is  placed  in  charge  of  a  school,  he  naturally  tries  to  make  it 
like  the  one  in  which  he  was  trained.  So  all  over  Asia,  Protes- 
tants and  Catholics  alike  are  giving  tens  of  thousands  of  Orien- 
tal youths  an  education  which  would  qualify  them  for  "the 
learned  professions"  in  England  or  the  United  States,  but  which 
grotesquely  unfits  them  for  the  hfe  which  they  must  live  in  a 
different  order  of  civilization.  Some  of  our  Christian  com- 
munities are  becoming  top-heavy  with  professional  men  who 
are  not  wanted — ripe  scholars  who  find  that  their  countrymen 
do  not  understand  them,  and  have  nothing  for  them  to  do. 

Even  in  America  there  is  a  growing  conviction  that  such 
educational  methods  need  re-adjustment.  In  many  of  our  home 
academies  and  colleges,  the  classical  languages  are  a  fetich — a 
survival  of  the  mediaeval  period  when  the  only  really  good 
literature  of  the  world  was  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  when  the 
former  tongue  in  particular  was  the  language  of  the  Church, 
of  diplomacy,  of  literature  and  of  polite  society.  Is  it  not 
foolish  in  the  twentieth  century  to  compel  a  boy  to  spend  from 
five  to  seven  years  in  digging  away  at  a  classical  language  which 
he  will  never  use,  which  will  never  be  of  practical  benefit  to 
him,  and  which  he  will  forget  five  years  after  his  graduation, 
when  he  could  obtain  equal  mental  discipline,  a  more  liberal  cul- 
ture and  far  greater  practical  benefit  in  modern  languages, 
sciences  and  literature?  •  The  Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  recently  said :  "We  have  adopted  much  in  our 
systems  of  education  from  peoples  who  have  not  our  responsi- 
bilities— people  who  educate  men  of  leisure,  class,  privilege, 
caste,  birth,  and  all  that.  The  people  govern  here.  They  should 
be  educated  with  a  view  to  their  development  along  the  lines  of 
their  life  work,  whatever  that  may  be.  Teachers  are  wanted 
to  do  work  that  has  not  been  done  in  all  the  ages,  the  discovery 
of  truths  underlying  production,  and  their  appHcation  to  the 
farm." 

These  words  have  an  even  stronger  application  to  the 
foreign  field  than  to  the  home  field.  I  believe  that  Latin  and 
Greek  should  never  be  compulsory  studies  in  a  mission  school, 
but  should  be  taught  only  as  electives  for  the  comparatively  few 


42 

students  who  demand  them.  Valuable  as  a  knowledge  of  these 
languages  is,  it  is  purchased  at  too  heavy  a  cost  of  other 
branches  which  are  far  more  important.  Even  in  the  United 
States  it  is  notorious  that  nine-tenths  of  our  classical  students 
get  only  a  useless  smattering  of  these  dead  tongues,  when  half 
the  time  spent  upon  them  would  have  secured  a  real  acquaint- 
ance with  German  and  French,  to  say  nothing  of  an  intelligent 
knowledge  of  their  own  language,  history  and  literature,  which 
not  half  of  them  possess.  If  we  are  to  go  outside  of  the  vernac- 
ular in  a  given  mission  school,  let  us  teach  English  and  such 
other  living  languages  as  the  local  situation  may  require. 
There  is  usually  one  such  language,  and  in  some  fields,  as  for 
example,  India,  Syria  and  Persia,  there  are  several,  which  are 
twenty  times  more  vital  to  an  educated  Asiatic  than  Latin  or 
Greek,  and  which  will  require  all  the  time  that  he  can  afford  to 
give  to  language  study. 

As  for  industrial  training,  I  think  it  should  be  the  rule 
rather  than  the  exception  in  our  boarding  schools.  Not  that  we 
should  turn  all  our  academies  into  industrial  schools,  that  would 
be  going  to  the  other  extreme,  but  that  in  the  typical  boarding 
school  on  the  mission  field  there  should  be  an  industrial  depart- 
ment. And  as  I  write  these  words,  a  friend  brings  me  a  paper 
stating  that  when  Secretary  Barton  returned  a  few  months  ago 
from  a  visitation  of  the  American  Board  Missions  in  India  and 
Ceylon,  he  was  asked  what  in  his  opinion  is  the  most  important 
feature  of  the  work  in  India,  and  he  is  said  to  have  replied, 
"The  feature  of  the  work  in  India  requiring  special  attention  at 
the  present  time  is  the  industrial  work."  It  is  folly  to  prac- 
tically limit  our  numerous  educational  institutions  throughout 
the  world  to  training  boys  for  a  pfofessional  life  for  which  the 
people  are  not  ready.  The  lesson  which  Booker  T.  Washington 
has  so  effectively  illustrated  in  America,  is  as  vitally  needed  in 
many  mission  fields  as  among  the  negroes  of  the  South. 

It  is  objected  by  some,  notably  by  Gust,  that  the  work  of 
missions  is  specifically  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  that  it  has  no 
right  to  engage  in  such  "side  issues"  as  industrial  training.  To 
this  objection  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  N.  G.  Clark,  Secretary  of  the 
American  Board,  effectively  replied :  "If  man  were  simply  a 
spiritual  and  not  a  social  being,  if  he  were  freed  from  all  claims 
which  his  home,  his  neighborhood  and  his  country  impose  upon 


43 

him,  or  if  he  had  no  physical  and  social  nature  to  be  cultivated, 
the  development  of  which  is  hardly  less  necessary  than  that  of 
the  spiritual  nature,  the  case  were  different  and  the  objection 
might  hold ;  but  when  we  remember  that  Christianity  is  for  the 
whole  man,  and  not  for  a  part  of  him,  the  question  assumes  a 
different  form.  If  industrial  education  and  manual  labor  such 
as  shall  discipline  the  hand  and  eye  are  coming  to  be  regarded  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe  as  essential  to  the  best  development 
of  intellectual  character  in  our  schools,  and  as  fitting  men  better 
for  their  work  in  life,  how  much  more  is  it  true  on  missionary 
ground,  especially  among  uncivilized  races  where  life  among 
the  masses  is  a  struggle  for  existence.  Such  education  is  only 
to  be  introduced  in  subordination  to  the  mission  purpose,  to 
raise  up  self-reliant,  self-respecting  men  and  women,  who  shall 
introduce  the  arts  of  civilized-  life  and  prepare  the  way  for  self- 
supporting  Christian  communities.  This  is  the  great  purpose 
of  industrial  education." 

The  transformation  of  social  and  economic  conditions  is 
not  the  primary  object  of  the  missionary,  but  it  is  nevertheless 
a  part  of  his  work.  The  evangelization  of  a  heathen  land  can- 
not be  wholly  separated  from  its  civilization.  Christianity  can- 
not leave  its  converts  on  the  heathen  plane  of  social  and  indus- 
trial life.  The  missionary  must  also  be  a  civilizer.  Inciden- 
tally, the  multiplication  of  Christian  men  in  the  various  walks 
of  life,  and  the  superior  skill  which  will  be  given  to  native 
youths  will  widen  the  range  of  missionary  work  and  enable  the 
missionary  to  reach  families  which  would  otherwise  be  difffcult 
of  access.  If  it  be  said  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  about 
industrial  schools,  I  reply — neither  is  there  anything  in  the 
Bible  about  Sunday  schools,  or  Women's  Societies,  or  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations.  Besides,  Christ  and  his  apostles 
preached  in  communities  on  the  same  level  of  civilization  as 
their  own.  We  are  dealing  with  races  who,  in  comparison  with 
Christian  nations,  are  semi-civilized  and  in  some  cases  wholly 
savage.  We  need  some  methods,  therefore,  that  the  apostles 
did  not  need.  If  there  is  anything  in  the  New  Testament  argu- 
ment at  all,  it  is  favorable  to  industrial  training,  for  did  not 
Christ  learn  carpentering  and  Paul  tent-making,  and  that,  too, 
for  the  identical  object  of  self-support  which  is  so  prominent 
a  feature  of  modern  mission  industrial  schools? 


44 

Moreover,  industrial  training  is  often  essential  to  the  ac- 
complishment-of  our  missionary  object.  We  say  that  our  aim 
is  to  build  up  a  self-supporting  native  church.  But  manifestly 
a  church  cannot  be  self-supporting  until  its  individual  members 
are  self-supporting,  and  how  can  they  maintain  themselves 
imless  they  are  taught  some  way  of  earning  a  living?  Secre- 
tary Clark,  of  the  American  Board,  sadly  wrote  in  1893 : 

"At  present  in  some  of  the  older  missions  every  advance  in 
our  missionary  work  adds  new  burdens  to  the  mission  treasury. 
Yet  there  must  be  a  limit  somewhere  to  what  the  churches  at 
home  can  do;  and  that  limit  will  fall  far  within  the  limit  of 
work  needed  in  the  foreign  field.  A  recent  statement  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  is  in  point.  The  call  in  their  dif- 
ferent fields  is  for  500  new  laborers ;  they  dare  not  venture  on 
sending  more  than  fifty.  A  great  part  of  the  field  opening  be- 
fore them  must  therefore  for  the  present  be  neglected.  The 
vigorous  efforts  of  that  noble  Society  are  well  known,  and  it 
would  seem  that  they  are  reaching  the  limit  suggested  sooner 
than  others.  The  American  Board  has  already  reached  it  in 
several  of  its  mission  fields,  notably  in  India  and  in  Turkey ;  and 
yet  the  vast  outlying  district  remains  comparatively  untouched, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  possibility  of  reaching  it  at  present. 
Communities  partially  enlightened  and  ready  to  receive  the 
Gospel  message  cannot  be  reached,  and  great  opportunities  lying 
at  hand  must  be  abandoned.  Hence  the  need  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, helping  our  Christian  communities  to  help  themselves 
and  to  carry  on  the  work  we  have  begun.  The  unskilled  labor  of 
the  masses  is  so  vmproductive  as  to  secure  only  the  bare  necessa- 
ries of  life,  leaving  them  quite  unable  to  support  even  their  own 
institutions.  The  poverty  is  such  that  until  new  industrial 
methods  shall  take  the  place  of  the  unskilled  labor  and  tradi- 
tional ways  handed  down  for  centuries  from  one  generation  to 
another,  there  is  little  hope  of  self-supporting  institutions. 
Despite  the  most  strenuous  efforts  on  the  part  of  mission- 
aries to  promote  self-support,  despite  the  self-denial  practised 
by  many  of  our  native  Christians,  it  still  remains  true  that  any 
advance,  even  in  our  older  fields,  is  only  possible  by  increased 
expenditure  from  our  mission  treasury,  and  that  the  work  is  no 
nearer  independence  than  twenty  years  ago.  Nothing  is  more 
painful  to  a  mission  secretary  than  to  receive  year  after  year 


45 

substantially  the  same  estimates  for  necessary  expenses  to  keep 
up  the  work,  not  to  speak  of  any  advance." 

The  recent  Deputation  of  the  American  Board  to  India  and 
Ceylon  uses  the  following  significant  language  in  its  report  on 
■this  subject : 

"Nearly  a  century  of  educational  work  in  India,  national 
and  municipal  as  well  as  missionary,  has  not  accomplished  all 
that  was  expected  in  the  way  of  raising  up  independent,  sturdy, 
aggressive  men.  On  the  contrary,  even  at  the  present  time, 
those  who  secure  an  education,  with  but  a  few  noble  exceptions, 
are  dependent  for  employment  either  upon  the  Indian  govern- 
ment or  upon  the  missions.  Failing  in  this,  they  seem  to  be 
powerless  to  make  places  for  themselves  in  any  other  direction. 
As  the  number  which  can  be  wisely  employed,  as  above  men- 
tioned, is  limited,  the  educational  institutions  of  the  country  are 
raising  up  an  ever-increasing  number  of  graduates  who  remain 
educated  dependents. 

"We  question  whether  the  present  system  of  education  is 
best  adapted  to  raise  up  men  for  even  government  or  mission 
employment,  to  say  nothing  of  the  many  trades  and  professions 
which  need  educated  leaders,  but  into  which  scholars  or  students 
are  not  inclined  to  enter.  The  educational  system  of  India  not 
only  fails  to  develop  ingenuity  and  self-reliance  in  the  students, 
but  leads  them  to  look  with  disdain  upon  all  forms  of  manual 
labor.  The  tendency  of  the  students  in  India  to  regard  it 
beneath  them  to  labor  with  the  hands  has  not  been  counteracted 
by  the  training  given  in  the  schools.  We  recommend  that  our 
missions  in  India  so  modify  their  courses  of  instruction  that  all 
male  pupils  aided  through  the  mission  shall  have  some  practical 
instruction  in  productive  manual  labor,  adapted  to  the  con- 
ditions and  needs  of  the  country.  We  see  no  reason  why  this 
should  not  apply  also,  with  necessary  modifications,  to  female 
pupils.  It  is  as  essential  that  the  future  Christian  community  in 
India  have  well  equipped  farmers,  mechanics,  artisans  and  mer- 
chants, as  that  they  shall  have  learned  government  officials, 
preachers  and  teachers.  If  that  community  is  ever  to  become 
independent  of  foreign  charity,  it  must  comprise  independent 
producers  and  wage-earners.  We  urge  the  Indian  missions  to 
enter  upon  such  a  course  systematically,  so  that  it  shall  be  opera- 
tive alike  in  all  parts  of  the  field.    In  connection  with  such  train- 


46 

ing,  we  believe  that  it  may  be  practicable  in  many  cases  to  or- 
ganize enterprises  that  shall  soon  become  self-supporting,  and 
even  a  source  of  income,  having  at  the  same  time  a  distinct  edu- 
cational value.  Any  student  who  refuses  to  do  manual  labor  in 
return  for  school  privileges  should  not  remain  in  school  at  the 
expense  of  the  mission." 

In  most  of  our  mission  fields,  we  need  more  helpers,  but  we 
need  a  far  greater  number  of  thrifty  laymen.  Indeed  we  could 
get  the  requisite  number  of  helpers  far  more  easily  if  we  had 
the  Christians  who  could  support  them.  Almost  everywhere  I 
went  in  Asia,  I  found  missionaries  troubled  by  their  inability  to 
secure  an  adequate  supply  of  native  ministers  and  teachers  and 
almost  invariably  the  difficulty  was  the  financial  one.  Plenty 
could  be  had  if  the  people  could  support  them.  Industrial  train- 
ing therefore  will  powerfully  promote  the  self-support  of  the 
native  church  by  developing  Christians  who  are  able  to  give. 
This  is  particularly  true  in  lands  like  Syria  and  India  where  the 
new  convert  is  often  disowned  by  his  family,  deprived  of  any 
means  of  support  he  formerly  had,  and  is  therefore  forced  to 
find  some  other  way  of  maintaining  himself  or  be  a  charge 
upon  the  charity  of  the  foreign  missionary. 

The  Rev.  George  Wilder  of  the  American  Board  sum- 
marizes the  matter  as  follows :  "Industrial  training  in  a  mis- 
sion to  uncultured  people  is,  first,  not  to  civilize  him  in  order 
that  he  may  be  Christianized ;  second,  not  as  a  business  venture 
to  enable  the  missionaries  to  become  independent  of  the  home 
churches,  nor  would  I  claim,  that  the  workshop  will  make  a 
'stupid  blockhead  .  .  .  bright  in  intellect  and  a  hopeless  truant 
...  a  sturdy  Christian  character.'  But  industrial  training  is 
of  great  use  to  economize  finances ;  to  arrest  the  attention ;  to 
establish  respect ;  to  gain  authority ;  to  relieve  suffering ;  to  dis- 
pel superstition ;  to  impart  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
knowledge;  to  make  the  untutored  man  realize  the  value  of 
time ;  to  teach  him  the  dignity  of  labor ;  to  inculcate  in  him 
prompt  obedience ;  to  teach  him  honesty ;  to  help  him  to  take 
the  initiative ;  to  give  him  independence ;  to  reveal  his  own 
powers  to  himself;  to  force  him  to  assume  personal  responsi- 
bility ;  to  arouse  his  moral  consciousness ;  in  a  word,  to  make 
the  savage  who  has  become  willing,  able  to  support  and 
propagate  the  institutions  of  the  Christian  religion." 


47 

The  objects  of  industrial  training  are  thus  five-fold  : 

(a)  To  give  to  poor  but  worthy  boys  a  means  of  securing 
an  education  which  is  compatible  with  self-reliance  and  self- 
respect  ; 

(b)  To  give  an  all-round  training,  educating  the  whole 
man,  the  hand  as  well  as  the  head  irrespective  of  the  financial 
uses  to  which  such  training  may  be  put ; 

(c)  To  enable  the  graduates  of  our  mission  schools  to  sup- 
port themselves  without  dependence  upon  foreign  employment ; 

(d)  To  develop  a  self-supporting  Christian  community 
which  will  be  able  to  maintain  the  institutions  of  Christianity 
and  pay  the  ministers  and  teachers  it  requires, 

(e)  To  raise  the  standard  of  civilization  and  dignify 
honest  toil  in  lands  where  savagery  prevails  or  where  manual 
labor  is  considered  beneath  the  dignity  of  man. 

The  second  is  the  chief  object  of  many  of  the  manual  train- 
ing schools  in  America;  while  the  first  is  the  primary  aim  of 
such  institutions  as  Park  College,  the  Mt.  Hermon  School  and 
our  Pyeng  Yang  Academy  in  Korea,  where  it  is  no  part  of  the 
Mission's  purpose  to  teach  industrial  training  as  such.  Most 
of  the  industrial  schools  of  the  American  Board  are  of  this 
character.  I  see  no  reason  why  our  industrial  mission 
training  should  not  comprehend  all  these  objects,  though 
local  conditions  will  usually  determine  which  should  dominate 
in  a  given  institution.  But  in  every  school  we  have  boys  who 
cannot  afford  to  pay  the  regular  fees,  but  who  for  their  own 
good  ought  to  give  something  in  return  for  their  education.  In 
most  lands  in  which  missionary  operations  are  conducted,  pop- 
ular ignorance  is  so  general,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  profitable 
employment  so  great,  and  the  number  of  students  who  can  be 
utilized  as  preachers  and  teachers  is  relatively  so  small,  that  we 
ought  to  give  boys  an  education  which  will  enable  them  to  be- 
come self-supporting  citizens,  while  it  is  even  more  wise  and 
necessary  in  Asia  and  Africa  than  it  is  in  America  to  train  the 
whole  man. 

It  is  fair  to  expect,  however,  that  industrial  schools  should 
as  far  as  practicable  be  self-supporting.  We  require  this  of 
other  schools,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  exempt  in- 
dustrial schools.  It  is  true  that  they  need  special  apparatus  and 
technical  instructors,  but  it  is  also  true  that  their  products  can 


48 

be  made  to  yield  a  revenue.  For  example,  in  the  industrial  de- 
partment of  our  industrial  school  at  Lodiana,  India,  rugs,  jin- 
rikshas  and  several  other  articles  in  local  demand  are  manu- 
factured for  sale.  The  sales  of  our  Sidon  Industrial  Department 
last  year  amounted  to  the  handsome  sum  of  $6,300,  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  which  were  from  the  carpenter  shop.  And  this  is  true 
of  nearly  all  industrial  schools.  I  visited  Dr.  Schneller's  Syrian 
Orphanage  in  Jerusalem,  which  enrolls  320  boys  and  30  girls. 
The  trades  taught  are  carpentering,  pottery,  printing,  shoe- 
making,  tailoring  and  gardening.  Though  there  are  six  foreign 
and  six  native  instructors,  it  is  the  inflexible  rule  of  the  School 
that  each  department  "is  and  must  be  self-supporting."  Still, 
entire  self-support  is  not  always  practicable.  The  industrial 
and  manual  training  schools  in  America  are  always  calling  for 
money  and  the  Tuskegee  and  Hampton  Institutes,  which  are  the 
most  conspicuously  successful,  are  the  very  ones  that  call  for 
and  secure  the  most. 

It  is  vital  that  training  given  in  an  industrial  school  should 
be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  community,  and  that  the  work  as 
a  whole  should  be  kept  in  close  subordination  to  the  evangelical 
purpose  of  all  missionary  work.  It  is  not  an  end,  but  a  means 
to  an  end.  We  should  not  teach  trades  for  which  there  is  not 
likely  to  be  a  local  demand,  nor  should  undue  emphasis  be  given 
to  some  particular  kind  of  hand  work  which  will  soon  be  driven 
out  by  machinery.  Cloth  weaving,  for  example,  comes  natur- 
ally in  many  Oriental  lands,  but  the  multiplying  factories  of 
England,  America,  Japan  and  India  are  certain  to  impoverish 
the  millions  who  now  depend  upon  it.  In  this  age  of  invention 
and  swift  steamers,  fingers  cannot  compete  with  spindles.  In 
Bombay,  the  Rev.  Edward  S.  Hume  of  the  American  Board 
Mission,  whose  great  orphanage  industrial  work  I  examined 
with  deep  interest,  told  me  that  he  found  it  wiser  to  give  longer 
and  more  expensive  training  in  trades  which  promised  reason- 
ably large  remuneration  and  permanent  employment  than  to 
give  short,  cheap  courses  in  trades  which  could  be  more  easily 
acquired,  but  which  would  never  yield  enough  to  enable  a  man 
to  comfortably  support  a  family.  The  Rev.  W.  J.  Clark  of 
India  wisely  says : 

"In  selecting  trades  and  industries  to  be  taught  in  a  par- 
ticular school,  it  seems  quite  safe  always  to  teach  the  three  lead- 


49 

ing  trades,  carpentry,  shoemaking  and  blacksmithing.  Beyond 
these,  in  choosing,  three  principles  will  be  our  safe  guides,  ist, 
Study  your  locality  as  to  raw  materials,  exports  and  imports. 
This  study  will  point  to  those  lines  of  production  in  which  cheap 
raw  materials,  and  a  near,  steady  market  will  insure  success  to 
boys  who  learn  those  trades.  2nd,  Hand  industries  depend  on 
two  things  for  their  success  (a)  Articles  produced  in  any  hand 
industry  should  not  depend  for  their  manufacture  on  the  repeti- 
tion of  a  single  action  or  a  simple  series  of  actions,  else  they  will 
soon  be  more  cheaply  made  by  machinery,  (b)  If  articles  pro- 
duced in  any  industry  are  made  or  can  be  made  by  machinery, 
then  the  hand-produced  article  must  be  of  a  superior  quality. 
3rd.  The  ability  of  the  boys  or  men  who  are  to  be  placed  at  a 
trade  or  industry.  Many  famine  children  are  from  agricultural 
districts  and  by  heredity  are  unfitted  to  become  good  craftsmen, 
but  would  doubtless  succeed  at  the  simpler  industries." 

Industrial  training,  however,  has  made  its  way  but  slowly 
to  general  recognition.  In  1890  the  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone 
stated  to  a  committee  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  that  in 
his  diocese  "the  Society  would  fail  in  its  duty  if  it  confined  the 
education  of  children  to  book  learning,  thus  stimulating  one 
side  only  of  the  African  character,  and  failing  to  instill  into 
them  an  appreciation  of  and  respect  for  honest  manual  toil." 
But  the  committee  contented  itself  with  the  following  cautious 
deliverance : 

"That  it  is  desirable  that  missionaries  assigned  to  Africa  or 
to  uncivilized  portions  of  the  mission  field  should  have,  if  pos- 
sible, some  industrial  training  before  proceeding  to  the  mission 
field. 

"That  while  the  Committee  have  not  been  able  to  obtain 
evidence  to  show  that  industrial  training  should  form  a  factor  in 
educational  work  in  all  the  C.  M.  S.  Missions,  yet  they  consider 
that  there  are  certain  places  in  which  such  training  should  form 
a  part  of  the  regular  teaching  in  the  mission  schools." 

In  1893,  Secretary  Clark  of  the  American  Board,  in  refer- 
ring to  the  fact  that  that  Board  had  industrial  work  at  Samokov, 
Bardezag,  and  Marsovan  in  the  Turkish  missions ;  at  Ahmed- 
nagar  and  Sirur  in  the  Marathi  Mission ;  at  Tillipally  in 
Ceylon;  at  Amanzimtote  in  the  Zulu  Mission;  and  also  in 
Western  Africa,  frankly  admitted  that  most  of  these  schools 


50 

were  begun  by  "missionaries  without  the  endorsement  or  formal 
encouragement  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  and  with  slight 
expenditure  of  mission  funds,  the  cost  incurred  being  met 
largely  by  individuals  specially  interested  in  this  form  of 
effort."   . 

During  the  last  decade,  however,  the  development  of  indus- 
trial training  has  been  rapid.  In  the  United  States,  industrial 
and  manual  training  schools  have  multiplied  until  now  there  are 
dozens  in  every  state.  Abroad,  the  progressive  Japanese  have 
found  that  the  contempt  for  manual  labor  and  commercial  ac- 
counting which  characterized  the  samurai  or  knightly  class  is 
a  serious  obstacle  to  national  development  and  the  Government 
is  now  strongly  encouraging  the  development  of  technical  and 
industrial  education  throughout  the  Empire.  How  large  a  part 
it  has  come  to  play  in  modern  mission  work  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  mere  list  of  industrial  schools  and  classes  occupies 
no  less  than  six  royal  octavo  pages  in  Dr.  James  S.  Dennis' 
"Centennial  Survey  of  Foreign  Missions."  Almost  all  the 
Protestant  Boards  and  Societies  in  the  world  are  represented  in 
that  list.  The  number  of  institutions  aggregates  no  less  than 
178,  the  pupils  under  instruction  ranging  from  five  hundred  at 
the  American  Methodist  Industrial  Home  in  Calcutta  and  the 
Basel  Evangelical  Missionary  Society's  institution  at  Mangalore 
down  to  three  at  the  Friends'  Foreign  Mission  Association  In- 
dustrial Class  at  Brummanna,  Syria. 

Our  own  industrial  schools  and  departments  are  as  fol- 
lows :  ( I )  Lodiana,  India,  in  connection  with  the  Christian 
Boys'  Boarding  School.  The  trades  taught  are  tailoring,  shoe- 
making,  rug-making,  carpentering,  cabinet  work  and  jinrikisha 
manufacturing.  There  are  92  boys  under  instruction.  (2) 
Saharanpur,  India,  where  170  famine  orphan  boys  are  taught 
shoemaking,  carpentering  and  tailoring.  As  famine  boys  can- 
not, of  course,  pay  fees,  there  are  no  receipts  except  from  sales 
of  materials.  (3)  Sangli,  India.  Here  also  industrial  work  is 
a  department  of  the  Boys'  School.  Carpentering  and  iron  work 
are  the  chief  trades  taught,  and  70  boys  receive  the  instruction. 
This  is  the  only  one  of  the  Board's  industrial  schools  for  which 
it  maintains  a  foreign  missionary  superintendent.  (4)  Hang- 
chow,  China,  where  industrial  work  is  a  department  of  the 
Girls'  School,  established  in  1896,  and  where  fifty-six  girls  are 


51 

taught  embroidery,  silk-winding  and  dressmaking.  (5)  Teng- 
chow,  China,  where  some  industrial  work  is  done  in  connection 
with  the  Tengchow  College,  chiefly  in  iron  work.  (6)  Pyeng 
Yang,  Korea,  where  a  recently  established  Boys'  Academy  has 
an  industrial  department  on  the  plan  of  Park  College,  Missouri. 
(7)  Dumeguete,  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  The  munificence 
of  the  Hon,  H.  B.  Silliman  has  provided  an  endowment 
of  $20,000  for  the  Silliman  Industrial  Institute,  but  for  reasons 
which  I  discussed  in  my  report  to  the  Board  on  the  Philippine 
Islands,  the  industrial  department  of  the  Institute  has  not  yet 
been  constituted.  (8)  Benito,  Africa,  where  some  agriculture 
and  gardening  are  done  in  connection  with  the  Boys'  Boarding 
School.  (9)  Batanga,  Africa.  Mrs. Robert  Hoe  generously  gave 
$1,000  in  February,  1900,  to  start  industrial  work  "in  agricul- 
ture, carpentery,  wood-work,  tailoring  and  such  like  trades  and 
occupations  as  might  hereafter  be  agreed  upon,"  though  the 
serious  reduction  of  the  missionary  force  by  deaths,  furloughs 
and  resignations  has  thus  far  prevented  the  actual  inauguration 
of  the  school.  Urumia,  Persia, and  Lakawn,  Laos,  should  not  now 
counted,  for  the  attempt  to  teach  carpentering  and  blacksmith- 
ing  at  the  former  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  resignation 
of  the  foreign  superintendent  in  1897,  and  the  experiment  of  an 
agricultural  farm  at  Lakawn  has  proved  a  failure,  for  reasons 
which  I  discussed  in  my  report  on  Siam  and  Laos.  (10) 
Yokohama,  Japan,  where  girls  are  taught  sewing,  cooking, 
etc.     (11)  Sidon,  Syria. 

The  last  is  the  largest  industrial  plant  under  the  care 
of  the  Board.  Nearly  all  the  others  are  doing  industrial 
work  on  a  small  scale,  the  object  being,  in  most  cases, 
simply  to  afford  some  means  of  self-help  to  needy  stu- 
dents. In  Sidon  the  industrial  work  is  a  department  of  the 
Gerard  Institute,  but  is  conducted  on  a  larger  scale,  and  with  an 
ampler  equipment.  The  Department  was  established  in  1895, 
the  initial  expenditure  being  $15,000,  of  which  Mrs.  George 
Wood  gave  $6,500,  the  rest  being  secured  by  the  missionaries, 
with  the  approval  of  the  Board,  from  individuals,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  Jessup  alone  collecting  $4,550.  This  sum  was  expended 
as  follows :  $8,000  for  land ;  $4,000  to  furnish  needed  accom- 
modations for  the  added   requirements  of  the  Industrial  and 


52 

Orphanage  Departments ;  $2,000  for  implements,  and  $1,000  for 
running  expenses  the  first  year. 

These  sums,  however,  have  been  supplemented  from  time 
to  time  by  the  gifts  of  various  interested  individuals,  chief 
among  whom  is  Mrs.  George  Wood,  who  several  years  ago 
made  Sidon  her  home,  and  who  has  ever  since  given  her  entire 
time  and  strength  to  the  Institute  as  an  unsalaried  worker. 
March  6th,  Mrs.  Wood  added  to  her  already  generous  benefac- 
tions the  following  splendidly  munificent  proposal : 

"Having  long  cherished  a  desire  to  add  to  the  permanence 
and  scope  of  the  Mission  Training  School  for  Boys  at  Sidon,  it 
gives  me  double  pleasure  to  connect  the  offers  I  am  prepared  to 
make,  with  the  auspicious  occasion  of  your  first  Secretarial  visit 
to  Syria.  Allow  me,  then,  through  you  to  make  to  the  Mission 
and  the  Board,  for  the  benefit  of  Gerard  Institute,  the  following 
offer : 

"i.  Fifteen  hundred  dollars  in  cash  already  loaned  by  me 
to  the  stock  account  of  the  Industrial  Department  of  the  General 
Institute. 

"2.  Such  a  sum  in  cash  (not  to  exceed  $10,000.00)  as  may 
be  required  to  erect  needful  buildings  at  'Dar  Es  Salaam.' 

"3.  The  loan  of  such  a  further  sum  in  cash  without  interest 
as  might  be  required  to  carry  out  any  plans  the  Board  and  Mis- 
sion may  decide  upon,  said  loan  being  fully  covered  in  their 
judgment  by  assets  of  the  Mission  for  the  purpose  becoming 
available  in  a  few  years'  time. 

"4.  The  title  deeds  for  the  new  building  for  the  orphans 
known  as  'Beulah  Home' — with  the  large  tract  of  land  on 
which  it  stands,  and  the  forest  tract  near  by. 

"6.  An  annual  sum  (not  exceeding  $1,000)  to  cover  any 
needed  outlay  toward  securing  more  efficient  instruction  in  the 
manual  department. 

"5.  An  annual  sum  (not  exceeding  $1,000)  to  cover  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  Orphan  Department  with  a  maximum 
of  20  boys,  including  the  wages  of  the  Farm  Overseer. 

"When  the  plans  of  the  Mission  relative  to  these  offers 
shall  have  been  matured  I  shall  be  ready  to  take  all  requisite 
measures  to  satisfy  the  Board  and  the  Mission  regarding  the 
security  of  my  offers  and  their  permanent  validity." 


53 

This  offer  has  been  unanimously  and  cordially  accepted  by 
the  Syria  Mission  and  by  the  Board,  so  that  the  Gerard  Institute 
now  has  a  larger  financial  support  than  any  other  boarding 
school  in  the  world  connected  with  our  work,  I  cannot  speak 
too  highly  of  the  value  of  Mrs.  Wood's  intelligent,  sympathetic 
and  self-sacrificing  co-operation.  She  has  given  unstintedly  of 
her  time,  her  strength  and  her  money,  and  without  her  assist- 
ance the  Institute  could  never  have  become  what  it  is  to-day. 

The  Institute  is  situated  in  the  city  of  Sidon,  but  while  the 
location  is  convenient,  it  was  too  small  before  Mrs.  Wood's 
offer,  and  it  is  altogether  impossible  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
enlarged  plans  which  her  generosity  has  permitted.  There  can 
be  no  expansion  in  Sidon  proper,  for  the  adjoining  property  on 
three  sides  is  owned  by  parties  who  will  not  sell,  while  the  tract 
across  the  street  is  a  Moslem  cemetery.  It  is,  moreover,  desir- 
able that  such  a  school  should  have  a  larger  area  than  would  be 
possible  in  a  crowded  Oriental  city,  especially  as  the  farm 
is  to  form  a  prominent  feature  of  the  work  of  the  school. 
Accordingly  a  large  tract  has  been  secured  about  two 
miles  from  the  city.  It  lies  on  the  slope  and  sum.mit  of  a 
high  hill,  and  commands  one  of  the  noblest  views  in  all  the  East. 
It  is  a  superb  site  for  an  Institution ;  near  enough  to  the  city  to 
be  easy  of  access,  and  yet  far  enough  away  to  give  ample  room 
for  development.  The  Beulah  Home  Orphanage  is  already  es- 
tablished at  this  site  and  the  whole  Institute  will  be  transferred 
to  it  as  soon  as  the  necessary  buildings  can  be  erected,  though  it 
is  probable  that  some  work,  particularly  the  day  schools,  will  con- 
tinue to  be  done  at  the  old  site.  The  industrial  departments  are 
(i)  farming  and  gardening ;  (2)  masonry  and  plastering;  (3) 
carpentery  and  joining;  (4)  tailoring;  (5)  light  blacksmith- 
ing  and  locksmithing  (6)  shoemaking. 

A  serious  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  finding  suitable 
Christian  instructors.  None  of  the  missionaries  had  the  re- 
quisite technical  knowledge  and  the  resources  of  the  Institute 
did  not  permit  the  employment  of  suitable  superintendents  from 
the  United  States.  As  a  temporary  makeshift,  therefore,  ar- 
rangements were  made  with  local  tailors,  carpenters,  masons, 
etc.,  they  to  give  free  instruction  to  such  boys  as  wished  to  learn 
their  respective  trades  and  to  take  the  profits  of  the  shops  for 
their  compensation.      This  plan  has  worked  well  enough  finan- 


54 

cially.  It  has  given  foremen  without  cost  to  the  Institute,  while 
on  the  other  hand,  free  student  labor  has  been  a  sufficient  incen- 
tive to  the  local  workmen.  The  difficulty  is  that  these  foremen 
have  usually  had  no  thorough  training  themselves,  their  knowl- 
edge being  limited  to  the  native  methods,  and  that  they  are  apt 
to  lack  the  patience  and  skill  required  to  impart  what  they  do 
know  to  a  lot  of  boys  who  may  be  but  languidly  interested. 
Even  more  serious  is  the  fact  that  such  foremen,  while  men  of 
excellent  character,  are  for  the  most  part  not  evangelical  Protes- 
tants, so  that  they  are  unable  to  exert  that  spiritual  influence 
which  we  regard  as  so  essential.  In  time,  it  is  fair  to  expect 
that  graduates  of  the  Institute  will  become  available  for  foremen 
in  the  various  departments,  and  special  effort  should  be  made 
to  develop  the  right  men  for  this  purpose.  But  for  so  large  a 
school,  a  foreign  mechanical  superintendent  is  urgently  needed 
and  with  the  added  resources  now  made  available  by  Mrs. 
Wood's  offer,  it  is  hoped  that  Dr.  Ford  can  carry  out  his  long 
cherished  desire  to  obtain  a  foreign  assistant,  who  will  unite 
mechanical  skill  and  missionary  character. 

The  Mission  has  outlined  the  policy  of  the  Institute  as 
follows  :  "The  basis  of  this  work  is  the  existing  Sidon  Academy 
which  is  to  continue  its  valuable  work  as  before,  drawing 
the  same  funds  that  have  supported  it  during  its  history 
thus  far,  and  simply  employing  the  new  funds  just  raised 
to  enlarge  its  scope  by  the  industrial  and  orphanage  extensions ; 
and  its  leading  aim  will  continue  to  be  evangelistic. 

"Manual  labor,  not  exceeding  two  hours  daily,  shall  be  as- 
signed to  all  the  pupils,  by  classes. 

"Pupils  who  cannot  pay  the  school  fees  may  be  received  as 
workers,  spending  eight  hours  a  day  in  manual  labor,  and  being 
supplied  with  night-school  facilities.  For  each  year  thus  spent 
in  one  of  the  shops  the  worker  shall  be  entitled  to  one  year  in 
;the  Academy  on  a  par  with  those  who  pay,  and  to  two  years  in 
the  case  of  those  who  work  on  the  farm  or  in  masonry.  Suit- 
able facilities  for  evening  classes  shall  be  given  to  all  the  manual 
labor  students, 

"A  few  Protestant  orphan  boys  (not  more  than  twenty)  be- 
tween the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen  shall  be  received.  They  will 
occupy  a  separate  building  and  be  in  charge  of  a  Christian 
family  and  attend  the  classes  of  the  Academy  and  day  school. 


55 

When  the  orphans  reach  the  grade  of  the  second  year  in  the 
Academy,  they  shall  be  discharged  from  the  Orphan  Depart- 
ment and  shall  then  be  dealt  with  on  the  same  basis  as  other 
poor  boys,  not  orphans.  The  orphans  shall  also  be  cared  for  if 
necessary  through  the  vacations. 

"Pupils  are  to  pay  the  same  fees  as  formerly,  viz :  8  French 
liras  ($32)  and  none  shall  be  received  into  the  Academic  De- 
partment who  do  not  pay  at  least  4  liras. 

"Orphans  are  to  pay  i  English  pound  each  annually,  and  to 
be  otherwise  provided  for  by  annual  scholarships  of  $25  each 
from  the  income  of  this  Department. 

"The  finances  of  all  the  industrial  branches  shall  be  di- 
rectly under  the' control  of  the  management  of  the  school. 

"Any  net  income  from  the  Agricultural  Departm-ent  shall  go 
to  supplement  the  scholarships  for  the  benefit  of  the  Orphan 
Department,  whose  accounts  shall  be  kept  distinct,  and  Whose 
number  of  pupils  shall  be  regulated  by  the  state  of  the  funds. 

"Any  net  income  from  the  other  trades  shall  go  to  help  sup- 
port the  working  class  of  those  who  are  trying  to  earn  their  own 
way,  and  whose  number  shall  be  regulated  by  the  state  of  the 
funds." 

Dr.  Ford,  who  has  from  the  beginning  been  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Institute,  strongly  emphasizes  the  evangelistic  aim 
of  the  industrial  work.  He  writes :  "Only  upon  this  ground  has 
this  innovation  and  expansion  received  the  hearty  endorsement 
of  the  Mission,  at  a  meeting  which,  more  than  any  other  I  have 
attended,  was  charged  with  emphasis  upon  the  evangelistic 
phases  of  our  many-sided  work.  And  speaking  for  myself,  I  can 
assure  you  that,  but  for  my  estimate  of  the  high  evangelistic 
value  of  this  industrial  project  as  it  now  stands,  I  could  not  sup- 
port, much  less  urge  this  new  departure.  The  conception  is 
that  of  a  family  school,  presided  over  by  a  picked  missionary, 
pervaded  by  the  religious  and  missionary  atmosphere,  and  in 
which  the  young  orphans  shall  furnish  a  field  for  the  practical 
development  and  exercise  of  Christian  service  on  the  part  of  the 
other  students.  The  leading  aim  is  the  building  up  of  Christian 
character,  so  as  to  supply  the  native  church  and  the  community 
at  large  with  worthy  leaders  as  fast  and  as  fully  as  we  can." 

I  was  deeply  interested  in  what  I  saw  of  the  practical  work- 
ings of  the  Institute.     I  found  115  boarding  pupils,  and  73  day 


56 

scholars,  beside  eighteen  boys  in  the  Orphanage.  The  spirit  of  , 
the  School  was  most  excellent,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  judge, thor- 
oughly faithful  evangelical  work  is  being  done.  I  came  away 
in  deeper  sympathy  than  ever  with  this  work.  I  believe  it  to 
be  of  vital  importance,  and  worthy  of  the  cordial  co-operation 
of  the  Mission  and  the  Board. 

British-Syrian  Schools. 

The  British-Syrian  Mission,  founded  in  October,  i860,  by 
Mrs.  Bowen-Thompson,  has  a  record  of  forty-two  years  of 
loving  and  useful  service.  It  is  "essentially  a  woman's  mission 
to  the  women  of  Syria,"  and  is  supported  by  an  undenomina- 
tional Society  in  England,  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Durham  is 
Patron  and  the  Right  Rev.  Thomas  Bickersteth  is  President. 
The  Mission  includes  the  Beirut  Training  Institution ;  boarding 
schools  at  Shemlan  and  Baalbec;  day  schools  in  Damascus, 
Tyre,  Hasbaya,  Zahleh  and  numerous  Lebanon  villages ;  med- 
ical mission  work  at  Tyre,  Baalbec,  and  in  the  Lebanon ;  evan- 
gelistic work  among  the  Bedouins  and  the  soldiers  of  the 
Lebanon  army ;  night  schools  for  men ;  special  schools  for  the 
blind-,  and  house-to-house  visitation.  The  local  force  consists 
of  19  missionaries,  of  whom  18  are  women;  25  Bible  women 
and  III  native  teachers.  The  56  schools  of  all  grades  enroll 
4,262  pupils,  and  the  dispensary  patients  numbered  last  year 
4,389,  The  work  is  conducted  in  sympathetic  co-operation  with 
our  Syria  Mission.  Indeed,  during  the  years  of  enforced  re- 
trenchment, the  British-Syrian  Mission  generously  assumed  the 
care  of  several  of  our  schools  in  order  to  prevent  them  from 
being  closed.  I  visited  several  of  its  institutions,  particularly 
those  in  Beirut,  Baalbec  and  Damascus,  and  I  was  very  much 
gratified  by  the  character  of  their  work.  As  a  rule,  the  build- 
ings are  large,  and  the  general  scale  of  maintenance  impresses 
the  traveller  as  better  than  that  of  most  mission  schools. 

The  Bible-Lands  Missions  Aid  Society  is  another  English 
agency,  to  whose  helpful  co-operation  our  Mission  has  been  fre- 
quently indebted.  It  also  is  undenominational,  the  Right  Hon. 
Earl  of  Aberdeen  being  the  President,  and  several  eminent  Eng- 
lishmen of  various  denominations  forming  the  Honorary  Coun- 
cil and  the  Executive  Committee.     The  Society  makes  annual 


57 

grants  of  about  £  100,000  for  missions  in  Greece,  Turkey, 
Persia,  Syria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  Arabia  and  Cyprus.  It  has 
frequently  extended  aid  to  our  Syria  Mission,  and  the  mission- 
aries uniformly  refer  to  it  with  grateful  appreciation. 

Most  conspicuous,  however,  of  all  the  educational  institu- 
tions in  that  part  of  Asia  is  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at 
Beirut,  and  one  of  the  great  questions  in  Syria  is  the  co- 
operation of 

The  College  and  The  Mission. 

Before  I  was  out  of  quarantine,  the  Faculty  sent  me  a 
special  invitation  to  visit  the  College,  to  address  the  students, 
and  to  make  myself  as  much  at  home  and  to  look  as  freely  into 
all  the  plans  and  workings  of  the  institution  as  if  it  were  an 
integral  part  of  the  Mission.  I  highly  appreciated  this  gener- 
ous and  hospitable  welcome,  and  I  found  that  it  was  the  precur- 
sor of  a  large-hearted  Christian  hospitality  of  the  most  delight- 
ful kind.  The  College,  incorporated  April  24, 1863,  was  formally 
opened  in  the  fall  of  1866,  the  first  class  graduating  in  1870. 
Its  property  includes  a  noble  tract  of  about  thirty-five  acres, 
commanding  a  superb  view  of  sea  and  land.  Eleven  handsome 
buildings,  some  of  them  of  exceptional  size  and  beauty,  afford 
accommodation  for  about  six  hundred  students,  and  the  able 
Faculty  includes  about  forty  professors  and  instructors,  under 
the  Presidency  of  the  venerable  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss.  There 
are  five  departments,  Preparatory,  Collegiate,  Medical,  Com- 
mercial and  the  School  of  Biblical  Archaeology  and  Philosophy. 

The  College  has  no  organic  relation  to  any  Mission  or 
Board,  but  has  its  own  Board  of  Trustees  in  New  York  and  its 
own  Field  Board  of  Directors  in  Syria.  As  I  had  studied  this 
question  in  other  lands,  I  was  naturally  interested  in  ascertain- 
ing whether  the  history  of  the  College  afl:"orded  any  reasons  for 
modifying  the  views  which  I  expressed  in  my  Report  on  China. 
As  to  control  by  a  field  board  of  managers,  I  found  an  almost 
unanimous  opinion  in  both  Mission  and  College  that  the  plan 
is  a  failure.  During  the  infancy  of  the  College,  when  there 
were  only  a  few  foreigners  on  the  Faculty  and  the  teaching 
force  was  largely  native,  the  Field  Board  was  very  helpful,  for 
the  institution  needed  the  guidance  of  the  experienced  mission- 


58 

aries  who  formed  the  Board.  But  as  the  number  of  foreign  pro- 
fessors increased  and  the  President  and  Faculty  became  stronger 
and  better  able  to  manage  the  College,  the  duties  of  the  Field 
Board  became  more  and  more  nominal,  until  at  last  the  Board 
ceased  to  have  any  real  power  and  everything  was  done  through 
the  President  in  direct  relations  with  the  Board  of  Trustees  in 
New  York.  A  committee  of  the  Faculty  is  now  at  work  on  a 
plan  of  reorganization  which  will  probably  make  the  Field 
Board  a  purely  advisory  body.  This  proves  anew  the  im- 
practicability of  field  board  control.  Power  inevitably  cen- 
ters in  the  men  who  do  the  work  and  the  men  who  manage 
the  funds. 

Upon  the  second  phase  of  the  question,  organic  relationship 
of  a  college  to  mission  and  Board,  the  history  of  the  Syrian 
Protestant  College  throws  little  light.  The  magnificent  success 
of  the  institution  has  been  primarily  due  to  three  causes : 

First.  The  able  leadership  of  the  President,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Daniel  Bliss,  reinforced  by  an  exceptionally  fine  body  of  pro- 
fessors. 

Second.  The  splendid  liberality  of  a  few  large  givers  in 
New  York. 

Third.  The  adaptation  of  the  College  to  the  demand  for 
higher  English  education  in  a  region  v/here  thousands  of  am- 
bitious young  men  are  eagerly  desirous  of  obtaining  such  train- 
ing. 

It  will  at  once  be  seen  that  all  of  these  causes  are  compati- 
ble with  organic  relationship  to  a  mission  and  to  the  Foreign 
Board.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  President  Bliss  was  originally  a 
member  of  the  Syria  Mission,  and  since  he  left  it  he  has  had  no 
essential  advantage  that  he  would  not  have  had  if  he  had  re- 
mained a  member.  As  for  the  financial  cause,  nearly  all  the 
money  has  come  from  Presbyterians  anyway,  and  Presbyter- 
ians, too,  who  are  famous  for  their  loyal  and  generous  support 
of  regular  Presbyterian  work  both  at  home  and  abroad.  As  for 
English  education,  while  that  is  a  vexed  question  in  many  mis- 
sion fields,  several  institutions  under  the  care  of  the  Board  are 
as  distinctively  English  as  the  Syrian  Protestant  College.  It  is 
true  that  the  College  draws  its  students  from  an  area  very  much 
larger  than  the  Syria  Mission,  the  students  coming  not  only 
from  Syria  but  from  Palestine,  Egy^pt,  Greece,  Asia  Minor  and 
a  few  from  places  still  m.ore  distant.     But  it  can  hardly  be  main- 


59 

tained  that  the  organic  separation  of  the  College  from  the  Mis- 
sion was  the  magnet  that  drew  these  students.  The  average 
young  man  went  to  Beirut  because  the  College  afforded  him  the 
training  he  wanted,  and  he  probably  knew  little  and  cared  less 
about  the  precise  relation  of  the  College  to  the  Syria  Mission, 
nor  did  he  have  the  faintest  idea  of  the  difference  between  a 
Board  of  Trustees  in  New  York  and  a  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions in  New  York. 

I  mention  these  things  not  to  argue  that  this  College  ought 
to  come  into  organic  relations  with  the  Mission  and  the  Board ; 
that  would  be  a  foolish  proposition.  Nor  should  my  references 
to  this  subject  be  understood  as  implying  any  criticism  upon 
either  the  Faculty,  the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  Field  Board  of 
Managers,  the  Syria  Mission  or  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 
I  am  simply  stating  facts,  which  everybody  conversant  with  the 
situation  knows,  with  a  view  of  showing  that  the  history  of  this 
institution,  inspiring  as  it  is,  affords  no  reason  for  believing 
that  our  Colleges  in  other  lands  should  separate  themselves 
from  our  Board,  particularly  as  the  Board  has  now  placed 
itself  on  record  as  favoring  endowments  and  thus  exempting 
the  most  important  institutions  under  its  care  from  the 
uncertainties  of  a  fluctuating  Board  treasury,  a  special  effort 
having  already  been  agreed  upon  to  raise  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion dollars  for  the  College  at  Wei  Hsien.  The  causes, 
therefore,  that  have  brought  success  to  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beirut  operate  within  as  well  as  without  mission 
and  Board  relationship. 

I  heard  anxiety  expressed  lest  our  plans  for  the  Gerard 
Institute  at  Sidon  might  lead  to  the  development  of  an  insti- 
tution which  would  rival  the  College,  not  indeed  in  numbers 
or  wealth — the  College  is  too  strong  in  these  respects — but 
in  its  relation  to  mission  work,  and  thus  divert  from  the  Col- 
lege the  interest  of  the  home  churches  in  it  as  a  missiorrary 
institution.  In  a  conference  with  the  Syria  Mission  and  the 
President  of  the  College,  I  outlined  the  following  policy  as 
expressive  of  my  attitude  on  this  subject,  and  I  was  gratified 
to  find  that  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to : 

First.  The  Mission  must  have  an  adequate  supply  of  na- 
tive ministers  and  teachers  for  its  churches  and  schools,  such 
a  supply  being  indispensable  to  the  continuance  of  our  mis- 


6o 

sion  work,  and  to  the  realization  of  our  mission  aim  to  estab- 
lish a  self-supporting,  self-governing  and  self-propagating 
native  church. 

Second.  The  Mission  should  have  direct  control  of  the 
institutions  which  are  its  main  dependence  for  training  such 
ministers  and  teachers.  It  cannot  abdicate  its  responsibility 
in  a  matter  so  vital  to  its  own  life. 

Third.  None  of  our  boarding  schools  are  now  able  to 
do  this  special  work.  They  are  as  good  as  any  institutions 
of  the  kind  in  the  world,  but  neither  in  t'he  character  nor  the 
extent  of  their  curricula  are  they  specifically  adapted  to  this 
•particular  need. 

Fourth.  The  Syrian  Protestant  College  trains  its  men 
beyond  the  present  needs  of  the  Syrian  churches  and  schools. 
This  is  not  a  criticism  upon  the  College,  for  it  does  not  pro- 
fess to  be  simply  a  training  school  for  the  Syria  Mission,  but 
a  general  Christian  College  for  the  Levant.  Moreover,  men 
of  the  grade  that  the  College  is  now  training  are  needed  in 
other  places,  and  will  in  time  be  needed  in  Syria.  That  insti- 
tution is  building  for  the  future  rather  than  for  the  present. 
It  cannot  narrow  its  scope  to  the  demands  of  the  present 
poor  and  weak  Syrian  churches.  The  College  wants  to  sup- 
ply the  Mission  with  helpers  as  well  as  it  can,  but  it  cannot 
limit  itself  to  that  object  or  make  the  present  needs  of  Syria 
the  standard  of  its  course. 

Fifth.  As  far  back  as  1881,  the  Mission  voted:  "That  in 
view  of  the  want  of  a  grade  of  teachers  in  the  Mission,  interme- 
diate between  college  graduates  and  the  graduates  of  the  com- 
mon schools,  the  different  stations  be  authorized  to  employ 
as  much  as  is  needed  of  the  appropriation  for  native  agency 
and  high  and  common  schools,  toward  educating  a  class  of 
pupil  teachers  in  the  high  schools  at  the  central  stations  of 
each  field,  it  being  understood  that  this  permission  includes 
the  privilege  of  supplying,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  cost  of 
the  board  of  the  pupils  while  studying."  Experience,  however, 
has  shown  the  necessity  for  seeking  this  object  more  directly  by 
adding  one  year  in  Arabic  to  our  boarding  school  course  with  a 
special  view  to  such  a  biblical  and  normal  training  as  will  meet 
the  present  demand  for  ministers,  teachers  and  helpers. 

Sixth.     This  should  be  in  only  one  of  our  institutions,  and 


6i 

that  at  Sidon.  It  is  unnecessary  and  impracticable  to  dupli- 
cate the  labor  and  expense  of  such  a  course  in  more  than  one 
school,  and  Sidon  appears  to  be  the  one  of  our  present  schools 
which  has  the  best  facilities  for  adding  such  a  course. 

Seventh.  It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  this  in- 
volves no  attempt  to  rival  the  Syrian  Protestant  College. 
That  institution  is  designed  to  cover  the  field  of  collegiate 
education  in  this  region.  It  is  supported  and  controlled  by 
Christian  men,  who  are  in  close  sympathy  with  our  mission 
work  and  purpose.  With  it  in  the  field,  we  should  not  be 
justified  in  diverting  from  other  needy  fields,  the  men  and 
money  which  would  be  required  for  collegiate  work.  Except 
as  indicated  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  our  mission  schools 
in  Syria  should  be  of  sub-collegiate  grade,  and  we  should  cor- 
dially co-operate  with  the  College  in  every  practicable  way  as  an 
institution,  which,  though  not  oiificially  connected  with  us,  is 
doing  on  such  a  splendid  scale  a  work  which  is  equally  vital 
to  the  great  objects  v/hich  we  cherish  in  Syria.  It  is  true  that 
the  College  is  essentially  an  English  institution,  and  that  there 
is  force  in  the  argument  that  there  is  now  no  Christian  insti- 
tution of  collegiate  grade  in  the  Arabic  language  anywhere 
in  the  world,  and  that  a  language  spoken  by  so  many  millions 
of  people  ought  to  have  such  an  institution.  But  it  does  not 
follow  that  we  should  undertake  anything  of  the  kind  in  Syria, 
or  that  it  would  be  practicable  for  us  to  do  so.  If  such  an 
institution  were  to  be  so  far  Arabic  as  to  be  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  the  Syrian  Protestant  College,  which  now  has 
Arabic  for  those  who  want  it,  it  could  not  command  the  fees 
which  would  be  an  indispensable  factor  in  its  support, 
as  young  men  are  willing  to  pay  high  tuition  for  English 
training  but  will  not  pay  for  Arabic.  Such  an  institu- 
tion therefore,  would  call  for  more  funds  than  the  Board  could 
give  it,  while  the  influence  of  a  charity  school  would  still 
further  weaken  an  already  weak  sense  of  self-support  among 
the  Oriental  peoples.  On  the  other  hand,  if  such  an  institution 
were  not  Arabic  enough  to  be  essentially  different  from  the 
College,  it  would  not  be  needed,  as  it  would  in  effect  simply 
parallel  the  College  in  a  field  far  too  small  for  two  colleges. 

It  is  true  that  the  College  does  not  meet  some  of  the 
immediate  and  urgent  needs  of  the  Syrian  Mission,  that  many 


62 

of  its  graduates  leave  the  country,  and  that  those  who  remain 
at  home  are  seldom  available  for  mission  service.  But  is  not 
this  equally  true  of  many  colleges  in  various  parts  of  Asia? 
Do  our  best  Christian  colleges  in  the  United  States  send  as 
many  men  into  the  ministry  as  formerly?  If  we  were  to 
develop  a  college  of  our  own,  is  it  certain  that  we  should  find 
it  "any  better  fitted  for  giving  this  particular  type  of  training 
than  the  Syrian  Protestant  College?  The  young  men  who 
leave  Syria  do  not  go  because  they  have  learned  the  English 
language  or  received  superior  education,  but  because  of  the 
political,  social  and  economic  conditions  prevailing  in  Syria. 
Multitudes  of  the  emigrants  speak  no  other  language  than  the 
Arabic,  and  have  never  had  a  school  or  college  education  at 
all. 

I  thank  God  for  the  Syrian  Protestant  College.  It  is  one 
of  the  noblest  Christian  colleges  in  the  world.  It  is  a  real, 
even  though  not  an  official,  part  of  our  missionary  equipment 
in  Asia.  It  wants  to  do  our  work  in  the  higher  collegiate 
grades,  and  we  should  heartily  and  gratefully  recognize  its 
co-operation. 

In  a  conference  with  the  Faculty,  to  which  I  was  kindly 
invited,  I  raised  the  question  not  only  as  to  the  aim  of  Chris- 
tian education  in  Asia,  but  as  to  a  more  effective  and  harmo- 
nious co-operation  of  Mission  and  College  in  evangelistic  work. 
Educationally,  the  co-operation  is  already  close.  Our  Suk  ul 
Gharb  and  Shweir  Boarding  Schools  prepare  boys  for  the 
College,  their  courses  leading  directly  to  the  Freshnlan  year, 
while  the  College  annually  gives  the  Mission  a  scholarship 
fund  of  £500,  in  order  to  enable  the  Mission  to  send  its  prom- 
ising boys  to  the  College. 

But  cannot  there  be  a  closer  co-operation  in  evangelistic 
work?  Of  the  two-score  men  on  the  College  Faculty,  nearly 
a  score  are  Americans  of  high  Christian  character,  whose 
motive  in  coming  to  the  College,  as  several  of  them  repeatedly 
assured  me,  was  primarily  missionary — to  have  a  part,  not 
only  in  education,  but  in  Christianization ;  to  be  factors  in  the 
spiritual  transformation  of  the  people  of  the  East.  Indeed, 
there  are  more  men  in  the  College  Faculty  than  there  are  in 
the  entire  Syria  Mission.  It  is  true  that  their  routine  duties 
make  heavy  demands  upon  their  time,  but  it  is  equally  true  that 


63 

routine  duties  make  heavy  demands  upon  the  time  of  th'e 
superintendents  of  our  mission  boarding  schools.  There  are 
probably  few  men  whose  routine  official  duties  are  more  ex- 
acting than  those  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  yet  all  of  them  manage  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
preaching  and  speaking  among  the  churches.  In  my  report 
on  China,  I  suggested  that  the  four  professors  of  our  Shan- 
tung College  ought  to  mean  enough  help  in  the  evangelistic 
work  of  the  Wei  Hsien  station  to  be  equivalent  to  an  addi- 
tional ordained  man  for  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  Mission. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  professors  of  that  College  have  been 
giving  such  assistance  for  years,  preaching  on  Sundays  in  the 
neighboring  villages,  making  occasional  itinerating  trips  dur- 
ing their  vacations  and  coming  into  close  contact  with  the 
village  schools  and  churches.  Several  of  the  professors  at 
Beirut,  notably  Dr.  Post,  are  already  giving  assistance  in 
preaching,  but  it  is  occasional  and  in  response  to  individual 
invitations,  rather  than  in  accordance  with  any  plan  of  co- 
operation between  the  Mission  and  the  College.  What  is 
needed  is  the  systematizing  of  the  matter,  I  found  the  profes- 
sors eagerly  desirous  for  some  such  co-operation.  Some  of 
them  suggested  the  matter  to  me  before  I  raised  the  question  in 
the  conference.  They  do  not  want  to  be  understood  as  mere 
College  professors,  but  as  missionaries  as  well. 

Their  participation  in  the  evangelistic  work  of  the  Mission 
would  give  us  much  needed  assistance.  I  was  impressed  in 
Syria,  not  so  much  by  the  fact  that  our  educational  work  is  out 
of  proportion  to  the  evangelistic,  as  that  the  evangelistic  empha- 
sis is  not  equal  to  the  educational.  What  we  need  in  Syria  is  not 
less  education,  but  more  evangelizatiofi.  The"  demands  of  the 
institutional  work  we  already  Eave  are  so  heavy,  that  with  the 
increasing  age  of  some  of  the  valued  members  of  the 
Mission,  only  a  very  few  of  its  members  are  free 
to  devote  themselves  to  evangelistic  work.  Our  Beirut 
Station  has  practically  but  one  man  for  regular  station 
work,  the  other  two  being  assigned  to  work  for  the  whole 
Mission,  one  as  editor,  writer  and  translator,  and  the  other 
as  manager  of  the  Press.  Such  an  important  center  needs  a 
larger  force,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Board  can  increase 
it  in  justice  to  other  fields,  as  the  supply  of  qualified  candi- 


•64 

dates  is  seriously  inadequate.  The  consequence  is  that  there 
are  hundreds  of  villages  about  Beirut  in  which  the  Gospel  is 
almost  never  preached.  I  stood  on  the  mountain  side  over- 
looking Beirut,  and  looked  down  upon  almost  countless  vil- 
'  lages  dotting  the  plain  about  the  city,  and  when  I  asked  what 
\  evangelistic  work  was  being  done  among  those  villages,  I  was 
told,  "None,  except  as  Air.  Hardin  is  able  to  add  to  his  respon- 
Isibilities  in  the  superintendence  of  the  Suk  ul  Gharb  Boys' 
1  School  by  preaching  in  the  nearer  villages."  Why  cannot 
the  Station  and  the  College  adopt  such  a  co-operative  policy 
in  evangelistic  work  that  this  field  can  be  more  efrectively 
/|  cultivated  with  the  present  force  ?  Surely  the  two  dozen 
American  Christian  professors  and  missionaries  represented 
by  both  College  and  Station  ought  to  mean  such  a 
magnificence  of  evangelistic  agency  -as  few  Asiatic  cities  now 
witness.  The  great  thing  is  to  get  together.  While  probably 
no  one  professor  could  give  very  much  time,  yet  the  sum 
total  of  a  little  time  spent  in  this  way  by  a  score  of  professors, 
more  or  less,  would  give  an  immense  impetus  to  the  evan- 
gelistic work  of  Syria.  Nor  would  such  work  be  of  less  value 
to  the  College ;  it  would  react  upon  it  in  a  hundred  helpful 
ways.  It  would  bring  the  professors  into  closer  relation  with 
the  people,  give  them  a  fuller  knowledge  of  their  language, 
customs  and  needs,  make  them  acquainted  with  promising 
boys,  and  give  them  opportufiities  for  influencing  the  parents 
of  students  already  in  the  College. 

Another  phase  of  this  co-operation  might  wisely  be  the 
strengthening  of  the  First  Church  of  Beirut.  The  unhappy 
division  of  several  years  ago,  fostered  by  the  headstrong  un- 
wisdom of  an  ambitious  Syrian  minister,  is  not  yet  healed  and 
probably  will  not  be  as  long  as  the  cause  remains  in  Syria. 
The  seceders  have  established  an  independent  church  and  hold 
themselves  aloof  from  all  their  brethren.  It  is  a  grievous 
example  to  set  before  a  critically  unsympathetic  community. 
And  so  the  First  Church,  which  would  otherwise  be  nearly 
if  not  quite  self-supporting,  has  only  a  hundred  resident  mem- 
bers, including  women,  children  and  some  of  the  Female  Sem- 
inary students,  and  is  dependent  on  the  Board  for  an  annual 
grant  of  about  $200. 


65 

Meantime  there  is  a  large  force  of  native  instructors'  and 
tutors  at  the  College,  several  of  whom  have  families.    They 
are  evangelical  Christian  men  and  women  of  high  ability  and 
culture,  leaders  among  their  people.     There  are  also  many 
followers  of  Christ  among  the  students.     Some  of  these  in- 
structors  and   students   are   active    supporters   of   the    First 
Church,  but  many  are  not.    True,  they  help  in  Christian  work  in 
the  College,  and  some  of  them  retain  their  membership  in  the 
communities  where  they  formerly  resided,  and  with  which  they 
do  not  wish  to  sever  their  connections  as  their  employment  by 
the  College  is  for  a  term  of  years  and  therefore  not  permanent. 
But  making  all   due  allowance   for  these  considerations,  the 
fact  remains  that  the  native  Protestants  of  the  College  and  the 
First  Church  are  virtually  separate  bodies.     There  is  an  im- 
portant sense,  in  which  these  bodies  should  be  separate.     The 
College  community  is  too  large  to  be  tributary  to  any  church 
outside  of  the  campus.     It  must  have  its  own  services.     It 
would  be  impossible   for  the  College  to  rightly  influence  its 
young  men 'in  any  other  way.     Still,  the  College  and  Church 
services   could   be   held   at    different   hours,   and   neither   in 
time   nor  financial  demands   is  the  former   seriously  incon- 
sistent   with    attendance    and    giving    at  the  latter.     Then 
there    are     the'  numerous    pupils     of    the     British     Syrian 
Schools    and    our    own    Female    Seminary,  most  of  whom 
can     give     but     little     in     addition     to     their     school     fees, 
but   some  of  whom  might   contribute   mites   at  least,  while 
there  are  various  scattered  individuals  of  evangelical  convic- 
tions or  sympathies  but  who  are  now  "unattached.'     If  all 
these  elements  were  to  unite  as  far  as  practicable  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  First  Church,  the  result  would  be  not  only  the  im- 
mediate liberation  of  about  $200  a  year  for  evangelistic  work 
outside    of    Beirut    but    such    a    strengthening    of    the    First 
Church    that    it    would    become    a    commandingly    influential 
congregation,  whose  power  for  Christ  would  be  tremendous 
in  all  Syria.     That  Church  need  not  be  regarded  as  simply  for 
our  Presbyterian  mission.     Why  not  regard  it  as  representa- 
tive of  Beirut  Protestantism,  and  consoHdate  in  it  all  practi- 
cable elements  of  the  Protestant  population?     After  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  of  Christian  work  and  with  the  powerful 


66 

co-operation  of  one  of  the  greatest  colleges  in  Asia,  there  ought 
to  be  at  least  one  self-supporting  Church  at  Beirut. 

Moved  by  such  considerations,  I  proposed  a  joint  confer- 
ence of  the  Mission  and  the  Faculty.  The  idea  was  enthu- 
siastically agreed  to,  and  several  delightful  hours  were  spent 
in  conference  and  prayer  on  this  and  other  subjects.  It  was  a 
noble  body  of  men  who  met  in  Dr.  Jessup's  house  that  night, 
and  as  we  conferred  with  one  another  regarding  the  interests 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  knelt  together  in  prayer,  I  felt  a 
new  encouragement  for  the  future  of  Christ's  work  in  that 
land  so  long  darkened  by  sin  and  superstition..  The  time  is 
ripe  for  a  forward  movement  in  Syria,  and  it  will  be  a  glorious 
thing  if  all  those  who  are  there  for  Christ's  sake  can  join 
hands  and  go  forward  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  heart-to-heart 
in  doing  the  Lord's  work.  With  this  desire,  no  man  is  in 
more  eager  sympathy  than  the  incoming  President,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Howard  Bliss.  He,  too,  goes  as  a  missionary  as  well  as  a 
College  President,  and  under  his  administration,  and  with  the 
new  and  closer  relations  with  the  Mission,  I  confidently  antici- 
pate a  larger  blessing  in  Syria  than  we  have  yet  seen.  De- 
tails can  be  worked  out  locally.  The  main  thing  is  the  clear, 
mutual  understanding  that  the  Mission  needs  the  help  of  the 
College  and  the  College  needs  the  help  of  the  Mission.  Re- 
lated as  they  are,  neitther  can  do  its  best  work  for  God  with- 
out the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  other.  The  missionaries 
have  an  influence  in  the  Syrian  Churches  and  among  the 
Christian  people  of  America,  without  the  aid  of  which  the  Col- 
lege, however  rich  in  money,  would  be  grievously  if  not  fatafiy 
handicapped  as  a  missionary  institution,  while  the  professors 
wield  a  power  and  do  a  work  which  are  indispensable  to  the 
largest  success  of  the  cause  for  which  the  Mission  stands. 
"  'Two'  members,  yet  but  one  body"  is  the  only  possible  plat- 
form for  both  Mission  and  College. 

I  was  much  gratified  by  the  religious  atmosphere  of  the 
College  itself.  Those  six  hundred  young  men  afford  one  of 
the  finest  of  fields  for  Christian  effort,  and  in  planning  for 
evangelistic  work  by  the  professors  outside  of  the  College,  we 
must  not  forget  that  they  are  now  doing  and  must  continue 
to  do  a  great  deal  among  those  who  are  in  such  immediate 
relation    to    them.    This    college    work    is    beinsr    conducted 


67 

along  four  lines— stated  devotional  exercises,  curriculum 
courses  of  Bible  study,  an  active  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  personal 
dealing  with,  individual  students. 

On  this  last  point,  Prof.  Webster  gave  me  the  following 
statement :      "Each  teacher  as  his  heart  prompts  him  finds 
his  own  way  and  his  own  time   for  doing  personal  work. 
There  are  frequent  conferences  of  those  who  are  steadily  and 
more  actively  engaging  in  this  work.     The  idea  is  through 
personal  and  private  interview,  sometimes  by  letters,  to  bring 
students  to  think  seriously  on  the  great  question  of  the  soul's 
salvation  and  to  urge  upon  them  definite  decision,  and  accept- 
ance of  Christ,  and  to  lead  others  safely  over  the  difficult  and 
dangerous  paths  of  student  life.     It  is  announced  publicly  that 
all  the  members  of  the  teaching  staff  are  always  ready  to  talk 
with  the  students  upon  personal  religion.     The  resident  in- 
structors have  special  facilities  and  frequent  opportunities  for 
engaging  in  this  all-important  work,  and  are  regularly  em- 
ploying them.      Students  are  encouraged  to  come  and  are 
coming  continually  that  they  may  receive  counsel,  direction, 
sympathy  and  the  strengthening  support  of  prayer  in  the  dif- 
ficulties they  are  meeting  and  in  the  terrible  battles  some  of 
them  are  facing.     Sometimes  they  come  only  to  present  a 
quibble,  or  to  argue,  or  to  ask  some  trifling  question,  but  the 
fact  of  their  coming  is  seized  hold  of  and  turned  to  account 
and  an  effort  is  made  to  turn  the  conversation  on  to  a  serious 
personal  basis  and  to  press  home  earnestly  and  faithfully  the 
one  thing  needful;     This  personal  work  is  really  the  climax 
of  all  other  work.     This  year  notably,  one  by  one,  students 
are  confessing  sin  and  dedicating  themselves  to  God  who  have 
been  brought  to  conviction,  oftentimes  by  means  of  an  ad- 
dress or  Bible  class  exposition,  but  to  decision  by  personal 
,  dealing.     This  summit  of  privilege  of  helping  men  to  decide 
for  Christ  is  a  work  full  of  opportunity  which  we  as  a  College 
hope  and  pray  that  we  may  attain  unto  and  count  all  other 
things  but  loss  for  making  known  the  excellency  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  and  strive  more  strenuously 
than  ever  to  make  this  College  above  all  other  things  mission- 
ary in  its  aims,  work  and  character,  yes,  the  greatest  mission- 
ary and  evangelistic  force  in  this  empire. 


68 
A  BIBLE  MISSION. 

Syria  is  not  only  an  educational  mission,  but  a  Bible  mis- 
sion. March  9th,  1844,  was  a  notable  date  in  the  history  of 
missions,  for  on  that  date  the  Syria  Mission  appointed  the  Rev. 
Eli  Smith,  D.D.,  "a  committee  to  begin  work  on  a  new  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  in  Arabic."  At  that  time,  the  only  Arabic 
version  of  the  Scriptures  was  a  reprint  from  the  edition  of  the 
Roman  Propaganda,  which  was  published  in  1571 — a  version  so 
wretchedly  done  that  the  missionaries  were  "ashamed  to  put  the 
sacred  books  of  our  religion  in  such  a  dress  into  the  hands  of  a 
respectable  Mohammedan  or  Jew."  It  was  not,  however,  until 
1848  that  the  way  was  clear  for  Dr.  Smith  to  begin  the  actual 
work  of  translation.  Lovingly,  patiently,  with  indefatiguable 
zeal  and  rare  scholarly  skill,  he  toiled  until  ill-health  compelled 
him  to  lay  down  his  pen  forever.  He  had  printed  the  Pentateuch 
as  far  as  the  end  of  Exodus  XXXIX,  and  had  done  a  large 
amount  of  preliminary  work  on  other  books.  But  after  his 
death,  January  11,  1857,  the  work  was  taken  up  by  the  Rev.  C. 
V.  A.  Van  Dyck,  who,  with  equal  devotion,  gave  all  his  ripe 
pov/ers  to  the  task.  The  New  Testament  was  finished  in  April, 
i860,  and  the  Old  Testament  in  August,  1864.  At  the  end,  he 
doubtless  felt  like  Robert  Moffatt,  who  vv'hen  he  had  written  the 
last  verse  in  the  vernacular  of  the  Bechuanas  said,  "I  could 
hardly  believe  I  was  in  the  world,  so  difiicult  was  it  to  realize 
that  my  work  of  so  many  years  was  completed.  My  heart  beat 
like  the  strokes  of  a  hammer.  My  emotions  found  vent  by  fall- 
ing on  my  knees  and  thanking  God  for  His  grace  and  goodness 
in  giving  me  strength  to  accomplish  my  task." 

I  have  read  with  wonder  the  long  list  of  lexicons,  gram- 
mars, commentaries  and  versions  in  various  languages  which 
formed  the  critical  apparatus  with  which  Dr.  Smith  and  Dr. 
Van  Dyck  worked.  They  were  among  the  very  foremost 
scholars  and  linguists  in  the  world.  Not  only  was  each  passage 
repeatedly  gone  over  with  Arabic  scholars  and  brother  mission- 
aries in  Syria,  but  when  the  translation  was  put  in  type,  thirty 
proofs  were  distributed  among  the  most  famous  Arabic  scholars 
in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  their  criticisms  invited.  When  I  was 
in  Beirut,  I  stood  with  a  feeling  of  reverence  in  the  upper  room 
in    which    the    translators    labored.      When    on    April    9th, 


69 

1890,  President  Gilman  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  visited 
that  room,  he  said  to  Dr.  Jessup — "Why  is  there  not  some  his- 
torical tablet  to  mark  the  place  where  this  work  of  Bible  trans- 
lation was  done?"  Dr.  Jessup  replied  that  nothing  was  want- 
ing but  the  means  to  erect  it ;  whereupon  President  Gilman 
promptly  gave  his  check  for  the  necessary  amount.  To-day, 
therefore,  the  traveler  will  find  on  the  outer  wall  the  following 
inscription :  "In  this  room  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the 
Arabic  language  was  begun  in  1848  by  Rev.  Eli  Smith,  D.D. 
Prosecuted  by  him  until  his  death  in  January,  1857;  it  was  then 
taken  up  in  October,  1857,  by  Rev.  C.  V.  A.  Van  Dyck,  M.  D., 
D.D.,  and  completed  by  him  August  23,  1864." 

Beyond  question,  that  translation  is  one  of  the  monumental 
translations  of  the  world.  In  1847  a  committee  of  which  Dr. 
Eli  Smith  was  Chairman  sent  to  the  United  States  an  appeal  in 
behalf  of  the  undertaking  in  which  "after  speaking  of  the  com- 
paratively evanescent  character  of  translations  of  the  Bible  into 
the  languages  of  tribes  evidently  hastening  to  extinction,  the  ap- 
peal rises  to  high  and  almost  prophetic  eloquence  in  speaking  of 
the  future  of  the  Arabic  Bible : 

"The  Arab  translator  is  interpreting  the  lively  oracles  for 
the  forty  millions  of  an  undying  race  whose  successive  and 
ever  augmenting  generations  shall  fail  only  with  the  final  ter- 
mination of  all  earthly  things.  Can  we  exaggerate  on  such  a 
theme?  Is  it  easy  to  overestimate  the  importance  of  that 
mighty  power  that  shall  send  the  healing  leaves  of  salvation 
down  the  Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  the  Nile  and  the  Niger ;  that 
shall  open  living  fountains  in  the  plains  of  Syria,  the  deserts 
of  Arabia  and  the  sands  of  Africa ;  that  shall  gild  with  the  light 
of  life  the  craggy  summits  of  goodly  Lebanon  and  sacred  Sinai 
and  giant  Atlas?  We  think  not.  These  and  kindred  thoughts 
are  not  the  thoughtless  and  fitful  scintillations  of  imagination, 
the  baseless  dreams  of  a  wild  enthusiasm.  To  give  the  Word 
of  God  to  forty  millions  of  perishing  sinners,  to  write  their 
commentaries,  their  concordances,  their  theology,  their  sermons, 
their  tracts,  their  school  books  and  their  religious  journals ;  in 
short  to  give  them  a  Christian  literature,  or  that  germinating 
commencement  of  one,  which  can  perpetuate  its  life  and  expand 
it  into  full  grown  maturity,  are  great  gigantic  verities  taking 


70 

fast  hold  on  the  salvation  of  myriads,  which  no  man  can  num- 
ber, of  the  present  and  all  future  generations." 

The  Beirut  Press  where  that  Bible  was  printed,  is  next  to 
the  greatest  mission  press  in  the  world,  being  exceeded  in  out- 
put only  by  our  Shanghai  Press.  Founded  at  Malta  in  1822, 
it  was  removed  to  Beirut  in  1834,  and  since  then  it  has  been  a 
steadily  increasing  power  for  the  truth.  Its  buildings  are 
modest,  but  reasonably  good  for  a  mission  ins-titution.  The 
equipment  consists  of  5  steam  presses,  6  hand  presses,  i  hydrau- 
lic press,  I  lithographic  press,  2  type  founderies,  i  electrotype 
apparatus,  i  stereotype  apparatus,  i  embossing  press,  i  hot- 
rolling  press  and  2  cutting  machines. 

The  total  value  of  the  plant,  including  land,  buildings, 
machinery,  etc.,  is  about  $90,000,  and  the  stock  is  worth  about 
as  much  more.  The  Press  has  issued  altogether  over  seven 
hundred  million  pages  of  Christian  literature  and  of  the  Word 
of  God.  It  has  printed  six  hundred  thousand  copies  and  parts 
of  copies  of  Scriptures,  -and  it  has  a  present  capacity  for  print- 
ing 5o,CK)0  Bibles  a  year. 

It  is  probable  that  this  Press  is  doing  more  than  all  other 
agencies  combined  to  influence  the  Mohammedan  world.  From 
that  unpretentious  building  go  forth  the  Scriptures,  explanatory 
tracts  and  books  which  are  read  not  only  in  Syria  and  Palestine, 
but  in  Asia  Minor,  Arabia,  India,  Egypt,  Tunis,  Algiers,  Mo- 
rocco, and  in  every  other  country  where  the  Arabic  language  is 
spoken.  The  Syria  Mission  has  from  the  beginning  included  in 
its  m.embership  men  of  the  highest  Christian  scholarship  and 
ability,  and  no  small  part  of  the  power  which  it  has  exerted  for 
Christ  has  been  through  their  writings  and  translations. 

From  the  viewpoint  of  competition,  the  French  Jesuit  Press 
in  Beirut  is  our  only  really  formidable  rival.  It  has  a  consider- 
ably larger  equipment  and  is  ^^.upported  by  •  the  enormous 
patronage  of  all.  the  Catholic  interests  in  Syria  and  Palestine. 
The  other  presses.,  are  smaller.  The  Greek  Press  has  a  fairly 
good  plant,  the  Maronite  an  inferior  one,  and  there  are  seven 
private  presses,  six  in  Beirut  and  one  just  outside  in  the 
Lebanon  district,  all  of  them  comparatively  small.  There 
is  practically  no  competition  from  Palestine,  the  only  presses 
there  being  the  two  small  ones  in  connection  with  Dr.  Schnel- 
ler's  Industrial  School  and  the  London  Mission  for  the  Jews. 


71 

In  this  department  of  our  work,  we  are  greatly  indebted 
to  the  co-operation  of  several  allied  agencies.  From  the  begin- 
ning, the  American  Bible  Society  has  borne  the  cost  of  printing 
the  Scriptures  on  our  Beirut  Press,  and  it  gives  to  us  all  its 
work  in  the  Arabic  language,  paying  the  actual  cost  for  print- 
ing, binding,  shipping,  etc.  The  Manager  of  the  Press  is  the 
Society's  Agent  for  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  receives  for  his 
services  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  Turkish  pounds  annually 
for  accounts,  care  of  stock  and  incidental  expenses.  Naturally, 
this  Society  is  our  largest  customer,  its  orders  for  last  year 
alone  having  aggregated  16,389,000  pages.  The  Press  now 
carries  for  the  Bible  Society  22,601  bound  volumes  valued  at 
63,850  piasters,  and  74,220  unbound  volumes,  valued  at  117,779 
piasters.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  a  separate 
agent  in  Beirut,  but  it  buys  all  its  supplies  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  at  cost  so  that  our  Press  has  the  work.  Last 
year,  over  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  output  of  the  Press  was  repre- 
sented by  the  orders  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  in  some 
years  the  proportion  has  run  as  high  as  seventy-five  per  cent. 

The  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London  has  also  been 
generous  in  its  co-operation.  It  has  a  local  Committee  in  Beirut 
which  includes  all  the  Presbyterian  missionaries  at  that  station, 
the  German  pastor,  representatives  of  the  Scotch  Mission  for 
the  Jews,  and  several  of  the  College  professors.  This  Society 
makes  direct  appropriations  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Committee,  for  books  and  tracts  to  be  distributed  among  the 
various  Protestant  missionaries  in  Palestine  and  Syria.  Our 
Press  does  all  this  printing  and  carries  the  Society's  stock,  the 
property  on  hand  at  the  last  report  being  197,287  bound  and 
unbound  volumes  and  tracts  valued  at  Ps.  327,105.  The  present 
annual  grant  of  the  Society  to  this  Committee  is  sixty  English 
pounds,  but  in  addition  the  Society  makes  an  annual  grant  of 
an  equal  amount  to  aid  in  the  publication  of  the  "Neshera,"  our 
mission  periodical.  This  really  means  the  continuance  of  "The 
Neshera,"  for  of  the  annual  cost  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  pounds,  the  subscription  list  of  524  yields  only  forty 
pounds,  and  as  the  Turkish  Government  will  not  permit  adver- 
tisements, telegrams  or  general  news,  there  is  no  other  source 
of  income.  The  missionaries  are  doing  what  they  can  to  in- 
crease the  subscription  list,  but  the  Protestant  community  in 


72 

Syria  is  not  large  enough  to  maintain  the  paper  on  a  self-sup- 
porting basis.  It  is  the  only  Protestant  periodical  of  any  kind 
in  all  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  it  is  therefore  a  valuable  mission- 
ary agency.  The  Mission  makes  a  contribution  of  twenty-four 
pounds  out  of  the  Board's  appropriation  "for  religious  litera- 
ture," but  it  could  not  meet  the  deficit  of  eighty-four  pounds 
which  would  face  it  if  it  did  not  have  the  Society's  grant.  We 
owe  the  Society  hearty  thanks  for  this  generous  co-operation, 
without  which  we  should  probably  have  to  discontinue  the  pub- 
lication. Grateful  mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  Chil- 
dren's Special  Service  Mission  which  makes  substantial  annual 
grants  for  pictures  which  are  freely  supplied  to  every  mis- 
sionary. 

The  American  Tract  Society  has  given  valuable  co-opera- 
tion at  various  times.  It  aided  in  the  publication  of  Dr.  Post's 
Bible  Dictionary,  it  has  paid  for  the  re-printing  of  several  of  its 
publications  at  our  Press,  and  it  has  just  made  a  grant  of  $350 
toward  the  cost  of  printing  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Jessup's  Com- 
mentary on  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Syrian  Protestant  College  is  also  a  patron  of  the  Press 
whose  orders  are  large  and  steadily  increasing.  Last  year  these 
orders  aggregated  about  seven  million  pages  which  were  about 
two-thirds  of  the  miscellaneous  printing  of  the  Press.  The 
College  orders  include  catalogues,  text  books  and  a  large  variety 
of  other  work,  all  of  which  the  Press  does  at  the  lowest  possible 
margin  of  profit. 

The  catalogue  of  publications  issued  by  the  Press,  exclu- 
sive of  the  Bible,  includes  about  675  numbers.  Nearly  all  the 
titles  impress  the  visitor  as  excellent.  Some,  however,  excite  a 
question.  Undoubtedly,  the  missionaries  are  the  best  judges 
as  to  what  will  be  adapted  to  the  native  mind  and  of  value  to 
the  work.  The  danger  in  all  our  presses  is  that  the  mind  of 
a  Mission  may  not  be  authoritatively  expressed.  It  is,  perhaps, 
inevitable  that  a  press  committee  should  be  occasionally  tempted 
to  deal  leniently  with  some  manuscript  which  a  brother  mission- 
ary wishes  published,  but  whose  missionary  utility  is  doubtful. 
All  mission  presses  should  publish  at  Board,  or  what  is  virtually 
the  same  thing,  press  expense  only  those  manuscripts  which 
have  been  approved  on  their  merits  from  the  viewpoint  of  pres- 
ent or  prospective  mission  need  by  the  press  committee  of  the 


73 

Mission,  and  all  other  printing  should  be  paid  for  by  the  indi- 
vidual fcr  whom  it  is  done.  Otherwise,  money  is  certain  to  be 
locked  up  in  useless  stock.  The  rules  of  the  Board  adopted 
March  6th,  1899,  appear  to  be  just  and  reasonable,  viz : 

"Mission  presses  are  established  and  maintained  with 
precisely  the  same  aim  and  purpose  as  other  departments  of 
the  mission  work.    They  are  missionary  agencies. 

"It  is  desirable  that  as  far  as  possible  the  people  them- 
selves should  pay  for  the  literature  provided,  though  in  this 
m.atter  the  desirability  of  self-support,  great  as  it  is,  is  not  as 
great  as  the  desirability  of  securing  the  attainment  of  the  other 
and  more  important  ends  of  mission  work.  The  distribu- 
tion of  literature  gratuitously,  however,  or  semi-gratuitously, 
should  be  made  a  part  of  the  general  evangelistic  or  educational 
departments  of  the  work.  Presses  should  be  merely  the  means 
of  production,  and  whatever  is  produced  for  use  in  the  work 
should  be  paid  for  by  the  department  benefited,  and  not  charged 
as  a  charity  against  the  press.  The  amount  needed  for  such 
purposes  should  be  included  in  the  annual  estimates,  just  as 
would  need  to  be  done  if  the  printing  were  to  be  done  by  some 
outside  agency  and  to  be  paid  for  by  the  Missions,  and  against 
such  estimated  expenditures  should  be  set  on  the  estimate  sheets 
such  estimated  receipts  as  are  expected  from  the  sale  of  the 
literature  in  question. 

"Secular  and  job  work  are  allowable,  and  desirable  even, 
as  tending  to  relieve  the  demands  made  upon  mission  funds,  or 
•  to  increase  the  profits  from  a  press,  whenever  the  presses  can  do 
such  work  without  any  interference  with  their  direct  missionary 
work,  and  without  undue  competition  with  other  presses,  if 
there  be  such.  But  the  presses  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  money- 
making  institutions,  though  the  Board  would  welcome  their  at- 
tainment of  the  stage  of  self-support. 

"The  authority  to  determine  what  shall  be  printed  by  a 
press  resides  in  the  Mission,  which  may  assign  as  great  liberty 
to  the  manager  of  the  press  as  the  Mission  may  deem  wise. 
Printing  at  mission  expense  shall  be  undertaken  only  on  the 
basis  of  appropriations  approved  by  the  Board.  Printing  at 
press  expense  (as  e.  g.,  the  publication  of  books  which  are  ulti- 
mately expected  to  pay  for  themselves),  so  far  as  allowable 
under    the    preceding    recommendations,    must    be    guarded 


74 

prudently  with  reference  both  to  its  missionary  utility  and  to 
its  business  wisdom,  and  annual  statements  showing  in 
sufficient  detail  the  work  so  done  during  the  preceding  year  and 
contemplated  during  the  following  year  should  be  submitted  to 
the  Board.  Undue  risks  are  to  be  avoided,  and  when  the  funds 
invested  in  such  publications  come  not  from  press  surplus  or 
working  capital,  but  from  mission  funds,  authority  must  be 
secured  from  the  Board  through  the  estimates  and  appropria- 
tions as  specified. 

"Presses  should  be  kept  subservient  to  the  missionary  en- 
terprise as  a  whole  and  should  not  be  allowed  to  become  its  mas- 
ters, or  to  exercise  a  warping  influence  on  general  Mission 
methods." 

The  work  of  the  Press  is  seriously  hampered  by  the 
Turkish  Censor.  There  is  no  censorship  within  the  Lebanon 
District,  but  this  exemption  applies  only  to  publications  printed 
and  circulated  inside  of  the  District.  As  soon  as  they  cross  the 
border,  they  are  subject  to  the  Censor,  and  as  our  Press  sends 
its  publications  to  the  whole  Arabic-speaking  world,  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  alternative  but  to  keep  it  in  Beirut,  and  to  get 
along  with  the  Censorship  as  best  we  can.  The  exactions  and 
annoyances  which  are  thereby  involved  are  almost  incredible. 
Every  page  of  the  "Neshera"  is  rigidly  censored.  The  Jesuit 
Press  is  allowed  to  publish  telegrams,  advertisements  and  gen- 
eral news,  though  that  right  is  denied  to  us.  Nor  is  this  the 
only  discrimination,  for  while  the  Jesuit  organ  freely  attacks 
and  misrepresents  Protestant  work,  the  Censor  will  not  permit 
the  "Neshera"  to  make  any  reply. 

All  the  books  issued  by  the  Press  have  to  be  sanctioned  by 
the  Government  Censor  at  Constantinople,  and  must  have  his 
official  imprint  on  the  title  page,  in  addition  to  the  stamp  of  the 
local  mudir's  seal.  The  officials  are  not  in  a  hurry — Orientals 
never  are.  It  took  three  months  to  get  their  seals  on  one  lot  of 
fourteen  thousand  copies  of  Arabic  Scriptures  and  miscellane- 
ous books,  and  even  then  they  would  not  have  been  obtained  if 
the  missionaries  had  not  secured  the  aid  of  the  Beirut  Consul. 
Every  Bible  we  print  has  its  title  page  defaced  with  a  permit 
from  the  Censor  of  Public  Instruction  which  is  supposed  to 
certify  that  it  has  nothing  in  it  contrary  to  good  morals !  The 
Jesuits,  sustained  by  the  French  Government,  have  successfully 


75 

refused  to  put  any  such  note  on  the  title  page  of  their  Bibles. 
But  our  missionaries  hesitate  to  appeal  to  the  United  States 
Government  except  in  cases  of  great  emergency. 

The  censorship  often  calls  for  the  most  remarkable  and  tr}'- 
ing  changes.  Dr.  H.H.  Jessup  told  me  of  a  book  on  the  Shorter 
Catechism,  entitled  "Apples  of  Gold,"  which  furnishes  speci- 
mens of  the  grim  humor  indulged  in  about  the  Golden  Horn. 
The  whole  chapter  on  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  was  stricken  out, 
as  was  also  the  preface  to  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  answer 
to  the  sixteenth  question  of  the  Catechism  and  the  whole  section 
on  the  Christian  law  of  the  Sabbath  with  a  chapter  on  Ahab's 
and  Naboth's  vineyard.  "Elijah  revisited  Ahab"  was  changed 
to  "interviewed  Ahab,"  and  "Jezebel  the  wicked  queen,"  became 
"the  queen,"  while  "man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God"  was 
changed  to  "image  of  man."  "We  would  make  Christ  known 
to  all  men,"  was  stricken  out,  perhaps  because  it  ran  counter  to 
settled  policy  in  high  places.  The  following  disappeared, 
doubtless  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessarily  disturbing  the  serenity 
of  people's  minds  :  "The  belief  of  Israel  led  them  to  rebellion ;" 
"but  for  the  town  clerk  of  Ephesus  there  would  have  been 
a  great  riot ;"  and  whole  passages  on  Absalom's  rebellion.  Cer- 
tain phrases,  of  which  the  following  are  specimens,  were  sup- 
pressed, perhaps  because  they  do  not  hold  good  or  will  not  apply 
in  this  Empire :  "Moses'  rod  was  mightier  than  the  sceptre  of 
earth's  mightiest  Kings ;"  "However  mighty  evil  men  may  be, 
God  is  able  to  defeat  their  ends  and  give  his  people  joy  and 
gladness ;"  "Veracity  is  important  in  political  stations ;" 
"Felix  was  a  wicked  ruler  who  expected  a  bribe  from  Paul." 

The  interference  of  the  Censors  extends  to  maps  as  well  as 
to  books.  At  our  Press,  I  saw  a  fine  map  of  Africa  which  can- 
not be  issued  because  the  authorities  at  Constantinople  peremp- 
torily forbade  its  publication  unless  the  entire  northern  part  of 
the  continent  was  marked  as  belonging  to  Turkey ! 

After  the  Censor  has  passed  the  book,  the  customs'  gauntlet 
must  often  be  run.  All  shipments  are  closely  examined  for 
seditious  matter.  When  a  devout  Moslem  Censor  at  Mersine 
opened  a  copy  of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  his  eye  caught  Question 
22 — "How  did  Christ,  being  the  Son  of  God,  become  man?" 
He  exclaimed,  "Against  this  horrible  form  of  unbelief  I  take 
refuge  in  God.    Take  these  books  and  burn  them,  burn  them !" 


76 

When  the  missionary  showed  him  that  the  Censor  had  already 
placed  his  seal  upon  them,  the  officer  impatiently  pushed  the 
books  from  him  crying,  "Take  them ;  take  them  :  Islam  is  dead 
when  such  words  can  be  printed  and  passed !"  When  I  entered 
Constantinople,  the  Customs'  Inspector  quickly  passed  all  my 
luggage  except  Booker  T.  Washington's  Autobiography,  which 
I  had  been  reading  on  the  steamer,  but  he  solemnly  perused  a 
dozen  pages  of  that  suggestive  book  and  tested  it  in  various 
places.  On  one  passage  he  held  a  consultation  with  his  superior. 
Fortunately  he  failed  to  find  any  sedition  in  it  and  grudgingly 
returned  it  to  me.  But  I  tremble  to  think  of  what  might  have 
befallen  me  if  he  had  read  my  note  books  and  the  MSS.  of 
several  magazine  articles. 

Dr.  Jessup  well  says  that  "These  Turkish  censors  ought  to 
be  well  instructed  in  the  faith,  considering  the  immense  amount 
of  orthodox  theology  they  are  obliged  to  read  every  year,  and 
a  missionary  in  Syria  ought  to  have  more  than  ordinary  grace 
and  patience  in  dealing  with  such  officials." 

My  visit  to  Asia,  during  which  I  visited  various  mission 
presses  of  our  own  and  other  denominations,  has  strengthened 
my  already  strong  conviction  as  to  the  importance  of  this 
branch  of  mission  work.  A  large  part  of  the  people  of  the 
Orient  have  always  been  reading  people,  and  books  and  manu- 
scripts have  wide  circulation  and  enormous  influence.  Asia  has 
now  begun  to  read  the  literature  of  the  West.  Infidel  books 
and  papers  are  being  scattered  broadcast.  The  old  faiths  are 
publishing  newspapers  and  issuing  tracts  as  they  never  did  be- 
fore. If  we  would  combat  error, extend  a  knowledge  of  the  truth 
and  raise  up  an  intelligent  Christian  community,  we  must  make  a 
large  use  of  the  printed  Word  of  God  and  of  Christian  litera- 
ture, while  our  schools  and  colleges  will  require  an  increasing 
number  of  text  books  which  we  must  prepare  and  issue.  It  is 
futile  to  think  of  Christianizing  those  millions  unless  we  make 
free  use  of  the  very  agency  with  which  they  themselves  are 
familiar,  an  agency  which  does  its  work  silently  but  effectively, 
and  which  cannot  be  permanently  stopped  by  any  amount  of 
opposition.  It  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  influence 
of  this  phase  of  our  work.  The  printed  page  goes  where  the 
living  voice  cannot  be  heard.  It  brings  its  truth  to  men  in  the 
quiet  hour.     The  force  of  its  message  is  never  lessened  by  con- 


77 

troversy  or  perverted  by  error.  "If,"  sai'd  Archbishop  Long-ley, 
"I  must  choose  between  sending  the  man  without  the  Book,  or 
the  Book  without  the  man,  then  I  say  send  the  Book.  The  man 
may  make  mistakes  but  the  Book  can  make  none."  Dr.  A.  J. 
Gordon  reminds  us  that  in  1854,  when  there  was  not  a  single 
Christian  in  Japan,  "A  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  dropped 
from  some  English  or  American  ship,  was  found  floating  in  the 
bay  of  Yeddo,  and  was  picked  up  by  a  Japanese  gentleman. 
Curious  to  know  its  contents,  he  sent  to  Shanghai  for  a  Chinese 
version  of  it.  As  he  read,  he  was  'filled  with  admiration,  over- 
whelmed with  emotion,  and  taken  captive  by  the  nature  and  life 
of  Jesus  Christ.'  .He  applied  to  Dr.  G.  F.  Verbeck,  the  Amer- 
ican missionary,  to  interpret  the  Word  of  God  to  him,  and  he 
and  two  friends  were  the  first  Japanese  to  make  public  confes- 
sion of  their  faith  in  Christ  under  a  Protestant  ministry.  All 
the  world  knows  how  the  Word  of  the  Lord  has  grown  and 
multiplied  in  Japan  from  that  day  onward." 

This  department  of  missions  is  being  conducted  on  a  more 
extensive  scale  than  is  generally  realized.  No  less  than  159  Mis- 
sion press  establishments  of  various  churches  annually  issue 
10,800,000  volumes  with  380,000,000  pages.  478  translations  of 
the  Bible  have  been  made, and  how  much  the  world  owes  to  mis- 
sionaries for  them  is  apparent  in  the  fact  that  they  made  456  of 
the  number.  Within  a  century,  over  200,000,000  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  have  been  printed  in  360  different  languages  and 
dialects,  and  95,000  Bibles  and  3,250,000  portions  of  Bibles  are 
distributed  every  year  on  the  mission  field.  If  every  missionary 
were  to  be  banished,  God's  Word  would  remain  in  Asia,  a 
mighty  and  indestructible  power,  operating  as  silently  as  the 
sunshine,  but  containing  within  itself  the  stupendous  potency  of 
a  world's  regeneration.  And  we  have  inspired  authority  for 
saying  that  God's  Word  shall  not  return  unto  Him  void. 

I  sympathize  with  the  desire  of  the  Syria  Mission  that  its 
reinforcements  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  of  men  who  have, 
or  who  may  be  reasonably  expected  to  develop,  the  scholarship 
and  ability  required  for  this  work.  To  as  great  an  extent  as 
any  other  Mission  in  the  world,  the  Syria  work  is  dependent 
upon  Christian  literature,  and  we  should  see  to  it  that  the  Mis- 
sion has  recruits  who  will  be  able  to  continue  the  splendid  liter-' 
ary  work  done  by  their  predecessors. 


78 
THE  MINISTRY  TO  PAIN. 

Healing  the  sick  is  another  important  phase  of  mission 
work  in  Syria.  The  antipathy  of  Moslem  and  Catholic  to  the 
Protestant  preacher  does  not  bhnd  them  to  the  fact  that  the 
medical  missionary  can  cleanse  their  ulcers  and  set  their 
broken  legs.  Thus  as  the  educational  work  opens  up  wi3e 
avenues  of  influence  among  the  children,  so  medical  work 
opens  up  equally  wide  avenues  of  influence  among  the  sick 
and  injured. 

My  tour  of  Asia  has  impressed  me  more  deeply  than  ever 
with  the  legitimacy  of  medical  missions  as  a  necessary  part  of 
our  missionary  work.  Did  not  the  Master  Himself  minister 
to  the  sick?  Did  He  not  cite  among  the  proofs  of  His  Mes- 
siahship  that  "the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed  and  the  deaf  hear?"  .  Of  His  thirty-six  re- 
corded miracles,  were  not  twenty- four  of  physical  healing? 
And  there  must  have  been  scores  of  others,  for  we  read  that 
"all  they  that  had  any  sick  brought  them  unto  Him,  and  He 
laid  His  hands  on  every  one  of  them  and  healed  them."  So 
our  medical  work  is  not  mere  humanitarianism.  Its  object 
is  not  simply  to  make  an  opportunity  for  a  minister  to  preach. 
Medical  missions  are  an  essential  part  of  our  Christian 
service  in  heathen  lands.  We  cannot  pass  by  on  the  other 
side  their  countless  sufferers  or  shut  our  ears  to  their  un- 
ceasing cries  of  agony. 

For  Asia  is  the  land  of  pain..  All  the  diseases  and  inju- 
ries common  in  America,  and  others  far  more  dreadful,  are  in- 
tensified by  ignorance  appalling  and  filth  indescribable.  An 
Oriental  tour  fills  the  mind  with  ghastly  memories  of  sightless 
eyeballs,  scrofulous  limbs  and  festering  ulcers.  If  our  child 
is  ill,  our  physician's  understanding  of  the  case  and  its  remedy, 
the  sympathy  of  friends  and  the  sweet  comforts  of  the  Gospel, 
make  the  sick  chamber  a  place  of  peace  and  probable  recov- 
ery. But  in  non-Christian  lands,  illness  is  an  unrelieved 
agony,  intensified  rather  than  alleviated  by  the  ignorance  and 
superstition,  and  frequently  the  frightful  mal-practice  of  the 
so-called  native  physicians.  It  is  true  that  in  Syria  there  is 
now  an  increasing  number  of  native  physicians  of  a  higher 
type,  but  they  have  been  trained  by  the  foreign  physician,  and 
are  a  part  of  the  beneficent  results  of  his  influence. 

The  Board's  medical  work  in   Syria  is   smaller  than  in 


79 

some  other  fields,  because  of  the  presence  and  co-operation  of 
the  Johanniter  Hospital  in  Beirut.  This  noble  institution  is 
conducted  on  a  large  scale.  Its  buildings  are  spacious  and 
its  facilities  for  medical  work  are  unusually  complete.  The 
management  of  this  Hospital  affords  a  singularly  happy  illus- 
tration of  missionary  co-operation.  The  property  is  owned 
and  the  expense  of  maintenance  is  borne  by  the  Johanniter 
Order,  popularly  known  as  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  whose 
head  is  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  whose  members  include 
many  of  the  highest  Protestant  nobles  in  the  German  Empire. 
The  seven  nurses  are  provided  by  the  Deaconesses  of  Kaiser- 
werth,  and  the  medical  and  surgical  staff  is  furnished  by  the 
Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut,  the  medical  professors  of 
the  College  having  had  sole  charge  for  thirty  years.  Such  a 
three-cornered  arrangement  might  not  prove  practicable 
everywhere,  but  it  has  worked  admirably  in  Beirut.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  Hospital  is  far  reaching.  It  has  sixty-three  beds, 
and  it  treated  last  year  521  in-patients  and  14,715  dispensary 
patients.  Dr.  Post,  the  senior  member  of  the  medical  staff, 
is  known  in  every  village  in  all  Syria,  and  he  and  his  associ- 
ates have  so  utilized  the  evangelistic  opportunities  of  the  Hos- 
pital as  to  make  it  a  power  for  righteousness.  Our  Syria 
]\Iission  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  Hospital  for  many  acts  of 
kindness  and  for  the  powerful  reinforcement  which  the  insti- 
tution gives  to  all  the  interests  of  the  cause  of  Christ  in  Syria. 
As  the  Hospital  is  so  closely  related  to  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  College,  Syria  is  gradually  obtaining  a  supply 
of  native  physicians  who  have  been  trained  by  the  College  and 
Hospital.  Because  of  the  faciHties  which  are  thus  afforded, 
the  Mission  has  not  deemed  it  expedient  to  undertake  local 
medical  work  in  any  of  our  central  and  southern  stations. 

In  the  North,  however,  the  Board  has  an  excellent  Hospital 
in  Tripoli  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Ira  Harris.  While  the  plant 
is  modest  compared  with  that  of  the  Johanniter  Hospital  at 
Beirut,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fairly  good  one  as  mission  hos- 
pitals go,  consisting  of  a  two  story  building  with  accommoda- 
tions for  thirty-five  in-patients  in  addition  to  the  dispensary. 
A  woman's  ward  is  needed  both  to  relieve  the  pressure  for  room 
and  to  separate  the  sexes,  as  women  come  to  the  Hospital  as 
freely  as  men.  I  suggested  a  local  canvass  for  the  necessary 
funds  as  the  Hospital  is  popular  and  is  patronized  by  all  classes. 


8o 

All  patients  furnish  their  own  food  and  pay  for  medicines,  bot- 
tles and  bandages.  Treatment  is  free  to  the  poor,  but  others 
are  expected  to  pay  as  they  are  able. 

The  work  of  Dr.  Harris  is  like  that  of  many  other  medical 
missionaries  in  various  parts  of  the'world.  It  is  not  an  easy 
work.  There  are  no  costly  appliances,  no  brother  physicians 
for  assistance  or  consultation,  no  trained  nurses  who  can  be 
relied  upon  for  preparations,  dressings  and  care  of  patients, 
no  skilled  help  of  any  kind,  except  that  of  such  natives  as  the 
missionary  himself  can  snatch  a  little  time  to  train.  The  med- 
ical missionary  must  do  everything  himself,  perform  unaided 
every  kind  of  operation  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  heroic, 
combine  the  duties  of  hospital  superintendent,  medical  staff, 
surgical  stafif  and  chaplain,  and  concern  himself  in  addition 
with  scores  of  details  which  no  hospital  surgeon  in  the  United 
States  would  think  of  touching.  When  it  is  also  remembered 
that  everyone  who  goes  to  a  hospital  is  regarded  not  sim- 
ply as  a  patient  for  professional  treatment,  but  as  a  sinner 
who  should  be  influenced  for  Christ,  the  fact  that  the  84  hos- 
pitals and  dispensaries  which  our  Board  maintains  in  Asia  and 
Africa  treat  about  300,000  patients  annually  becomes  eloquently 
suggestive. 

I  spent  several  hours  in  the  Tripoli  Hospital  and  found 
a'.l  the  beds  occupied  and  the  dispensary  waiting-room 
crowded  with  patients  of  both  sexes,  and  of  all  religions — 
Greeks,  Moslems,  Maronites,  Catholics,  Jews,  Nusaireyh, 
Syriacs  and  Protestants.  Like  all  other  missionary  surgeons, 
Dr.  Harris  has  to  operate  in  circumstances  which  would  ap- 
pall a  fastidious  surgeon  at  home.  The  operations  are  so  nu- 
merous that  it  is  not  always  practicable  to  administer  an  an- 
aesthetic. The  fortitude  of  Asiatics  caused  me  wonder  here 
as  in  many  other  places.  They  have  not  been  accustomed  to 
make  as  much  ado  over  their  physical  pains  as  the  more  deli- 
cately nurtured  American  and  European.  Indeed  the  Asiatic 
sometimes  sufifers  as  dumbly  as  a  stricken  deer,  which  utters 
no  sound  even  when  most  cruelly  wounded.  It  does  not 
therefore  occur  to  many  of  the  common  people  that  a  great 
stir  should  be  made  about  their  ills,  and  as  an  operation  can  be 
performed  in  ten  minutes  without  an  anaesthetic  which  would 
require  an  hour  with  one,  and  as  the  patients  are  legion,  the 
medical   missionary,  like   an  army  surgeon,   must   often   cut 


8i  1 

swiftly  upon  the  conscious  subjects.  In  Tripoli  for  example, 
I  saw  a  middle-aged  woman  calmly  lie  down  upon  the  operat- 
ing table,  and  without  a  struggle  submit  to  the  removal  of  a 
cancer  from  her  cheek.  Of  the  score  of  operations  that  I  saw 
Dr.  Harris  perform,  only  two  were  with  ether,  though  he  of 
course  employs  it  for  anything  really  serious.  It  makes  a  non- 
professional American  shiver  to  see  what  an  Asiatic  will  si- 
lently endure.  But  it  was  better  to  relieve  eighteen  people 
without  an  anaesthetic,  than  to  send  two-thirds  of  them  away 
unhelped  and  give  all  the  time  to  elaborate  fussing  over  one- 
third.  It  is  a  condition  that  confronts  a  medical  missionary, 
not  a  theory. 

In  the  ancient  city  of  Hums  I  saw  the  sick  flock  to  Dr. 
Harris  as  of  old  they  flocked  to  Christ.  He  had  with  him 
only  a  pocket  case  of  medicine  and  a  few  instruments.  The 
receiving  room  was  our  little  church,  the  operating  table  a 
board  laid  across  a  couple  of  benches.  But  amid  those  prim- 
itive conditions,  the  missionary  gave  such  relief  to  scores  of 
suft'ercrs' that  their  gratitude  knew  no  bounds,  and  men  who 
would  have  stoned  a  preacher  reverently  listened  to  the  phy- 
sician while  he  talked  to  them  of  Christ. 

The  work  of  Dr.  Mary  Pierson  Eddy  among  women  and 
children  is  also  representative.  Hitherto  it  has  not  been 
a  local  work,  for  though  Dr.  Eddy  is  nominally  a  member  of 
the  Beirut  station,  she  has  itinerated  throughout  the  entire 
mission  field,  and  even  beyond  it.  With  her  Bible 
women  and  her  camping  outfit,  she  journeys  on  horse- 
back to  some  outlying  village,  and  pitches  her  tent. 
A  surprising  number  of  the  sick  and  injured  speedily 
appear — the  blind  groping  their  way,  the  helpless  borne  by 
friends,  i)itiful  looking  babes  carried  by  their  mothers  and  tot- 
tering aged  led  by  their  children — a  heartbreaking  multitude 
of  lame  and  fevered  and  scrofulous.  It  is  pathetic  to  see  the 
trustful  confidence  of  that  diseased  and  crippled  throng,  some 
of  whom  are  plainly  beyond  all  help  that  man  can  give.  The 
Gospel  is  read  and  explained,  tracts  are  distributed,  hymns  are 
sung,  and  then  the  sufferers  are  treated  one  by  one.  Some- 
times two  hundred  patients  a  day  are  treated  in  this  manner. 
After  spending  perhaps  a  few  days  or  weeks  at  one  place  in 
this  way,  Dr.  Eddy  moves  on  to  another  district,  and  so  she 
travels  up  and  down  the  land  for  months,  on  itinerant,  evan- 


82 

gelistic,  medical  work.  Not  every  woman  has'  the  courage 
and  self-reHance  and  physical  strength  for  such  a  life,  but  Dr. 
Eddy  has  done  this  work  for  years.  Recently,  however,  ill- 
health  has  limited  this  freedom  of  movement,  and  the  kind- 
ness of  friends  has  enabled  her  to  open  a  Woman's  Hospital 
and  Dispensary  at  Junieh,  fifteen  miles  from  Beirut.  Junieh 
is  a  stronghold  of  the  Maronites,  and  is  surrounded  by  no  less 
than  235  villages,  in  none  of  which  is  Protestant  work  being 
conducted.  It  has  been  the  boast  of  the  Maronite  Patriarch 
that  no  Protestants  would  ever  be  allowed  in  that  region,  and 
a  few  miles  south  of  Junieh  "I  saw  a  large  cross  marking  the 
line  beyoiid  which  no  Protestant  was  to  pass.  Probably  no 
male  missionary  could  have  succeeded  in  establishing  himself 
in  Junieh,  and  doubtless  no  woman  other  than  a  physician 
would  be  allowed  to  live  there.  But  after  much  difficulty  Dr. 
Eddy  persuaded  a  man  to  build  and  rent  to  her  two  houses, 
one  for  a  dispensary,  work  room,  and  operating  room,  and  the 
other  for  in-patients  and  for  a  living  room ;  and  there  she  is 
to-day,  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the  most  spiritually  destitute  re- 
gions in  all  Syria — a  splendid  example  of  the  way  in  which 
medical  missions  open  the  door  of  spiritual  opportunity. 

THE  EVANGELISTIC  PROBLEM. 

The  evangelistic  problem  in  Syria  is  as  large  as  other 
problems,  but  it  does  not  require  so  full  separate  discussion,  as 
most  of  the  factors  which  condition  it  have  already  been  dis- 
cussed, namely, — Turkish  rule,  Moslem  intolerance,  "Christian" 
opposition,  emigration,  etc.  I  have  also  indicated  the  extent  to 
which  evangelistic  work  in  Syria  is  dependent  upon  the  opportu- 
nities created  by  the  educational,  literary  and  medical  de- 
partments. It  would  not  be  expedient  to  press  direct  evangelis- 
tic work  in  Syria  so  aggressively  as  it  is  being  pressed  in  Korea 
for  example,  where  there  is  practically  no  opposition.  A 
vehement  outburst  of  evangelistic  effort  would  probably  stir  up 
tumult,  if  indeed  it  would  not  result  in  driving  us  out  of  the 
country.  Tact,  prudence  and  patience  are  more  necessary  in 
Syria  than  in  almost  any  other  field  which  our  Board  occupies. 
I  hope  and  pray  that  the  time  will  come  when  we  can  enter  upon 
a  more  energetic  campaign  for  Christ  in  this  ancient  land  than 
now  appears  to  be  expedient,  but  we  must  be  "wise  as 
serpents." 


83 

Meantime  the  Mission  is  faithfully  doing  such  evangelistic 
work  as  the  circumstances  permit.  Several  of  its  members  are 
indefatigable  in  itinerating.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any- 
where better  types  of  true  evangelistic  workers  than  Samuel 
Jessup  and  W.  K.  Eddy  of  Sidon,  W.  W.  Jessup  and  G.  C. 
Doolittle  of  Zahleh,  and  W.  S.  Nelson  and  F.  W.  March  of 
Tripoli.  Before  Mr.  Hoskins  was  transferred  to  Beirut,  he 
spent  as  many  as  two  hundred  days  in  a  single  year  away  from 
home,  most  of  the  time  in  the  saddle,  while  Mrs.  Gerald  F. 
Dale's  village  evangelistic  work  is  of  ideal  excellence,  though 
every  woman  could  not  live  alone  in  an  out-station  as  she  does. 
It  would  be  easy  to  mention  other  names,  for  missionaries 
whose  immediate  assignment  of  work  is  not  evangelistic  often 
do  a  great  deal  of  it,  as  for  example, — Dr.  Henry  Jessup's 
preaching  in  Beirut  in  addition  to  his  numerous  and  varied 
literary  labors.  The  evangelistic  spirit  is  good  in  the  Mission 
as  a  whole.  It  is  clearly  seen  that  the  missionary  should  not  be 
a  local  pastor,  but  a  superintendent ;  and  so  the  typical  evan- 
gelistic missionary  in  Syria  is  a  shephard  of  several  churches,  a 
missionary  in  the  apostolic  sense. 

Unfortunately,  however,  the  force  of  the  Mission  is  not 
adequate  to  a  proportionate  emphasis  upon  this  phase  of  the 
w^ork.  While  it  is  true  that  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  make  a 
great  enlargement,  the  normal  strength  of  the  Mission  should  be 
fully  maintained.  This  Mission  is  singularly  fortunate  in  its 
older  members.  I  heartily  hope  that  they  may  long  be  spared 
to  the  work,  for  their  influence  is  wide  and  eminently  sweet  and 
helpful.  But,  while  they  are  more  valuable  than  ever  in  coun- 
sel, it  is  no  longer  physically  possible  for  them  to  stand  the 
strain  of  itinerating  as  in  former  years.  As  the  educational  and 
literary  work  of  the  Mission  is  relatively  greater  than  in  many 
other  fields  and  as  the  circumstances  are  such  that  it  cannot  be 
allowed  to  lapse  without  disaster,  the  evangelistic  workers  are 
apt  to  be  drawn  upon  to  carry  on  institutional  work  during  the 
illnesses  and  furloughs  of  other  missionaries.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  evangelistic  work  anywhere  should  be  made  tributary  in 
this  way  to  institutional  work,  but  it  appears  to  be  occasionally 
inevitable.  In  such  a  country  as  Syria,  an  institution  cannot  be 
closed.  Evangelistic  work  from  its  nature  is  more  flexible  and 
can  be  more  easily  adjusted  to  other  necessities.     So  when  the 


84 

press  manager  goes  on  furlough,  Mr,  Hoskins  has  to  be  taken 
from  his  evangelistic  work  to  keep  the  great  mission  press  run- 
ning, and  when  a  teacher  in  the  Beirut  Female  Seminary  re- 
signs, Mrs.  Dale  must  be  urged  to  take  the  place  until  a  succes- 
sor can  be  found,  etc. 

For  these  reasons,  the  evangelistic  force  of  the  Mission  is 
not  actually  as  great  or  as  steady  as  the  number  of  names  would 
indicate.  During  my  visit,  the  Mission  unanimously  adopted 
the  following  rather  pathetic  resolution  which  I  think  should 
have  the  sympathetic  consideration  of  the  Board : — "Whereas, 
advancing  age  and  special  physical  disability  in  several  members 
of  the  Mission  seriously  cripple  the  efficiency  of  the  Mission  as 
a  whole,  and  Whereas — the  present  force  even  when  in  full 
vigor  is  adequate  only  for  maintenance  and  oversight  of  the 
existing  organized  work,  and  the  Mission  feel  the  urgent  need 
of  advancing  in  many  lines, — therefore  Resolved,  that  we  urge 
upon  the  Board  the  importance  of  sending  two  ordained  men  to 
reinforce  the  Mission  at  the  earliest  possible  date." 

Limited  as  the  opportunity  is  in  Syria,  it  is  nevertheless 
greater  than  the  Mission's  present  ability  to  meet  it.  Vital  as 
the  educational,  literary,  and  medical  departments  are,  it  is 
equally  vital  that  the  avenues  of  influence  which  they  open 
should  be  followed  up,  and  that  the  Mission  should  be  so 
eq.uipped  that  it  can  not  only  do  this  but  widen  and  extend  those 
avenues  in  all  tactful  and  practicable  ways.  It  is  as  true  in 
Syria  as  elsewhere  that  the  loving  presentation  of  the  Gospel  to 
the  individual  soul  is  the  chief  form  of  misionary  activity,  to 
which  all  others  should  be  subordinate ;  and  that  every  member 
of  the  Mission,  no  matter  what  his  special  assignment,  should 
be  considered  an  evangelist  with  the  gracious  privilege  of  bring- 
ing souls  face  to  face  with  Christ. 

The  effort  to  revive  Christianity  in  such  a  land  is  attended 
with  peculiar  difficulties.  True,  from  the  physical  viewpoint, 
the  Syria  Mission  is  exceptionally  favored.  The  climate  is 
good  and  the  scenery  of  wonderful  beauty.  They  have,  more- 
over, the  advantage  of  frequent  mails,  innumerable  visitors 
from  the  home  land,  and  many  of  the  conveniences  of  modern 
civilization,  while  swift  trains  and  steamers  have  brought  them 
within  seventeen  days  of  New  York.  But  as  every  missionary 
knows,  the  serious  troubles  and  trials  of  missionary  life  are  not 
physical.     The  anxieties  and  problems  in  Syria  are  as  trying  as 


85 

PECULIAR  DIFFICULTIES. 

they  are  anywhere  in  the  world.  Two  of  them  have  already 
been  referred  to — a  Government  more  hostile  to  missions  than 
any  other  Government  in  Asia,  and  the  stubborn  opposition  of 
alleged  Christian  churches.  Other  difficulties  are  numerous, 
some  of  them  gfowing  out  of  these  two. 

Among  the  most  discouraging  of  these  is  emigration. 
Men  feel  that  they  have  no  future  in  their  own  country,  that  the 
oppression  of  the  Turk  is  unendurable,  that  taxes  keep  them 
in  abject  poverty,  and  that  even  if  a  man  does  attain  some  de- 
gree of  prosperity,  he  is  immediately  pounced  upon  and  sub- 
jected to  such  additional  burdens  that  he  gives  up  in  despair. 
Then  the  massacres  of  recent  years  in  various  parts  of  the 
Empire  have  made  the  whole  non-Moslem  population  uneasy. 
Some  of  the  Syrian  pastors  whom  I  met  seemed  quite  dis- 
couraged, and  rather  disposed  to  go  to  the  United  States  them- 
selves. They  appeared  to  think  that  the  general  restlessness 
and  desire  to  emigrate  might  be  a  providential  call  to  leave  the 
land  in  view  of  some  impending  calamity.  They  said  that  the 
Christians  could  do  as  well  in  Syria  as  anywhere  if  they  could 
have  a  fair  chance,  but  that  as  it  was,  men  who  felt  the  stir  of 
the  new  life  were  irresistibly  impelled  to  seek  some  land  like 
America  where  they  could  earn  a  living  for  themselves  and  their 
families  without  constant  danger  of  injustice  and  persecution. 
Those  who  have  gone  write  back  letters  giving  such  glowing 
descriptions  of  the  freedom  and  prfDsperity  which  they  have 
found  in  the  United  States,  Egypt  and  South  America,  and  en- 
closing such  tangible  evidences  in  the  form  of  money  for  their 
relatives,  that  the  excitement  rises  to  fever  heat. 

Who  can  blame  them  for  going?  But  it  is  hard  on  the 
foreign  missionaries,  after  having  toiled  and  prayed  for  the 
conversion  and  education  of  young  men,  to  see  them  leave  the 
country  in  such  numbers  that  the  native  churches  are  crippled, 
and  in  some  instances  almost  destroyed.  It  is  the  policy  of  the 
Board  to  press  self-support  in  all  mission  lands,  and  to  insist 
that  the  native  Christians  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  maintain  their 
own  preachers  and  thus  develop  an  independent,  self-reliant  life. 
But  it  will  readily  be  seen  what  discouraging  obstacles  are  en- 
countered in  the  effort  to  found  self-supporting  churches  in 
Syria.     Of  the  145  communicants  en  the  chrrch  roll  at  Hums, 


-86 

50  are  in  the  United  States.  In  my  conference  with  the  native 
leaders  at  Sidon,  the  startHng  fact  was  stated  that  no  less  than 
two  hundred  men  have  emigrated  from  one  of  the  neighboring 
towns.  The  Rev.  W.  K.  Eddy  says  that  the  "population  of 
Jedeideh  is  between  3,000  and  4,000  and  of  this  number  1,300 
are  absent.  One  hundred  left  last  month,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred more  are  preparing  to  leave.  This  is  an  extreme  instance 
fortlic  people  of  this  town  are  mostly  traders  with  the  Bedouins, 
and  their  trade  having  decreased  they  must  do  something.  In 
Saleheych,  above  Sidon,  the  oldest  Protestant  male  member  is 
twelve  years  of  age  and  at  present  in  the  Orphanage.  All  the 
rest  are  in  Egypt,  the  United  States  and  Mexico." 

Dr.  Jessup  truly  says  that  "the  effect  on  the  Protestant  com- 
munities is  disastrous,  and  as  our  policy  is  to  expend  less  and 
less  on  native  preachers  and  teachers,  and  the  people  are  grow- 
ing less  in  numbers  by  emigration,  the  prospect  is  that  ere  long 
the  outlying  stations  will  die  of  inanition,  the  women  and  chil- 
dren unable  to  support  teachers,  and  thus  left  to  grow  up  in 
utter  ignorance.  How  can  we  enforce  self-support  in  a  church 
that  has  only  half  a  dozen  members  left,  as  is  the  case  in  many 
villages  ?  Considering  this  state  of  things,  I  think  our  showing 
is  better  than  we  could  have  expected.  There  is  no  use  in  try- 
ing to  stop  the  tide.  It  is  thought  that  of  the  60,000  Syrians 
who  have  emigrated,  one-third  have  died,  one-third  will  remain 
abroad,  and  only  one-third  ever  return.  There  are  whole  villages 
with  hardly  a  man  left  to  till  the  soil,  and  the  women  and  children 
left  behind  are  many  of  them  left  to  starvation  or  crime.  In 
one  village  in  the  north,  the  Greek  women  deserted  thus  by  their 
husbands  turned  Moslems  and  married  Moslems.  Syria  is 
losing  its  best  blood,  its  enterprising  youth." 

This  does  not  mean  that  missionary  work  should  be  dimin- 
ished. It  is  important  to  bring  these  young  men  to  Christ.  The 
home  Church  does  not  abandon  the  New  England  towns  because 
the  young  men  seek  the  cities.  But  this  emigration  so  far  inten- 
sifies the  difficulties  always  and  everywhere  incident  to  foreign 
missionary  work,  that  those  who  are  engaged  in  it  need  our 
special  sympathies  and  prayers. 

Another  serious  obstacle  is  the  competition  of  the  Russian 
and  French  priests.  They  are  numerous  in  Syria.  There  is 
more  than  a  suspicion  that  they  are  not  only  missionaries,  but 
quasi-political     emissaries    of    their    respective    governments. 


8; 

lucTN  l)(ul\-  knows  that  al  no  distant  day  the  'Tnikish  I'jnpirc 
will  he  (lisinti\L;iatod.  Russia  and  l'"ranoo  haw  their  cws  on 
Syria,  and  ai\'  doinj;-  everything-  in  their  power  to  (luictly  seeiire 
a  ft)c)thold  there.  IJoth  the  Russians  and  the  1^'reneli  ("atholies 
einphasi/.e  educational  woik.  'I'liev  ereet  handsome  and  expoii- 
si\e  hnildinijs,  and  they  not  only  give  free  tuition,  hut.  as  a 
rule,  free  books,  and  in  some  uistanccs  free  ho.ird  also,  virtually 
compensating  parents  for  sending  children  to  them.  It  is  said 
th.il  the  Russians  alone,  as  the  patron  of  the  Orthodox  Greek 
(  Imrch,  have  ahont  ,^00  schools  and  that  Russia  suhsidi/.es  this 
work  in  Syria  to  the  exti'ut  of  ahout  .$300,000  annually.  We 
are  not  tinanciall\  able  to  eom])ete  with  such  lavish  expenditure, 
nor  would  we  do  so  if  we  could.  We  {\o  not  believe  in  that 
kind  of  missionary  work.  Our  buildings  a're  modest,  and 
whiK'  tuition  fees  are  small,  we  insist  that  whenever  parents 
:\rv  able  to  pay  .something  they  should  do  so.  Wc  are  there- 
fore obliged  to  rely  for  success  upon  the  superior  character  of 
our  schools.  That  su|)erioritv  is  marked,  and  it  is  enabling 
us  tt)  continue  our  work,  but  under  peculiarly  trying  conditions. 
We  spend  pennies  where  l\ussians  and  h'rench  spend  dollars 
among  a  people  who  worship  "the  almighty  dollar"  even  nK)rc 
than  Americans. 

Not  the  least  of  the  obstacles  to  the  devi-lopiuent  of  a  self- 
supporting  ("huieh  is  the  dependent  disposition  of  the  people 
themselves.  It  is  true  that  this  is  a  dilTicidty  in  all  mission 
fields,  the  Asiatic  being  everywhere  a  man  who  is  willing  and 
often  eager  to  get  all  the  help  he  can.  I'ut  in  Syria  and  I'al 
esline,  this  general  disposition  has  been  ent)rmously  intensilied 
by  the  fact  that  for  two  thousand  years  the  Ciuistians  have 
been  the  almoners  of  European  charity.  I'atd  set  the  example 
in  urging  the  churches  of  Rome.  Corinth  and  (ialatia  to  take  up 
collections  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem,  and  ever  since  the 
"saints"  in  all  that  part  of  Asia  have  stood  in  an  expectant  at- 
titude, it  will  be  a  long  and  weary  task  to  change  a  position 
in  which  men  have  been  standing  for  twenty  centuries,  bixily 
of  habit  is  attained  in  far  less  time  even  in  American  comnnni- 
ities.  The  .h'.ast  is  slow  to  change  its  customs  and  on  •  of  the 
most  venerable  and  highly  prized  of  all  h'astern  customs  is  that 
of  annnallv  receiving  aid   from   the  rest  of  (  hristeiulom. 

It     is     even     niori'     (liHicult     to     persuade     the     people     to 
contribuli.'  to  the  salaries  of  their  i)reachers  than  to  the  edu- 


88 

cation  of  children  and  the  erection  of  buildings.  This  is 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  idea  of  voluntary  giving  to  tlie 
support  of  the  clergy  is  entirely  new  to  them.  In  their 
former  religions,  the  church  and  its  priests  were  maintained 
by  the  income  of  property  and  by  enforced  fees  for  marriages, 
baptisms,  funerals,  masses,  etc.  As  Protestantism  gels  no 
revenue  from  any  of  these  sources,  except  an  occasional  small 
wedding  fee,  the  whole  burden  of  self-support  falls  upon  a 
method  of  giving  to  v/hich  the  people  have  never  been  accus- 
tomed. The  typical  Syrian  is  not  only  poor,  but  close  in 
money  matters  and  it  is  hard  to  induce  him  to  give  freely  in 
the  New  Testament  spirit.  Still,  the  fact  remains  that  Protest- 
antism makes  smaller  financial  demands  upon  the  native  con- 
vert than  was  made  by  his  former  faith.  While  it  may  appear 
to  him  that  he  is  being  asked  to  give  to  something  which  cost 
him  little  before,  yet  if  ne  takes  into  consideration  the  com- 
pulsory fees  that  were  exacted  from  him  at  every  event  in  his 
life  by  the  priests,  he  will  find  that  it  is  cheaper  to  be  a  Protest- 
ant than  a  Catholic.  Deeply  as  we  sympathize  therefore  with 
the  poverty  of  the  people,  I  think  we  should  remember  and  try 
to  make  them  remember  that  all  we  ask  of  them  is  less  than 
they  paid  as  Greeks  or  Catholics. 

But  a  more  serious  difficulty  is  the  reluctance  of  the 
native  ministers  themselves  to  depend  upon  their  own  people. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  is  one  of  the  most  formidable 
obstacles  to  self-support  in  nearly  all  our  mission  fields. 
The  foreign  station  treasurer  is  a  more  liberal  and  reliable 
pay-master  than  a  native  congregation.  With  him  the  native 
minister  is  dealing  with  but  one  man  and  that  one,  too,  an 
eminently  responsible,  sympathetic,  and  punctual  man.  It  is 
very  much  pleasanter  to  draw  a  stated  amount  from  him  than 
it  is  to  have  all  the  labor  and  worry  of  persuading  a  lot  of 
more  or  less  indifferent  Christians  that  they  ought  to  con- 
tribute toward  his  support ;  especially  as  he  often  finds  to  his 
sorrow  that  his  work  is  only  half  done  when  he  has  secured 
the  pledges,  since  there  is  frequently  great  trouble  and  con- 
siderable loss  in  collecting.  And  so  a  great  many  of  the  native 
ministers  not  only  in  Syria  but  in  other  parts  of  Asia  give  only 
Inlf-hearted  co-operation  to  the  mission  policy  of  self-support. 
I  zvA  persuaded  that  one  of  the  first  things  to  be  done  by  mis- 


89 

sionaries  everywhere  is  to  more  strenuously  press  this  matter 
upon  the  native  ministers  and  helpers  themselves.  The  rank 
and  file  in  the  churches  will  never  be  led  to  a  just  sense  of  their 
responsibility  to  support  their  own  work  until  their  leaders 
more  deeply  feel  that  responsibility. 

The  Board  is  not  disposed  to  be  unreasonable  in  pressing 
self-support  either  in  Syria  or  elsewhere.  On  the  contrary, 
it  expressly  voted,  June  29th,  1900 — "While  the  Board  recog- 
nizes the  establishment  of  a  self-supporting,  self-controlling,  and 
self-propagating  Church  as  one  of  the  primary  aims  of  mission 
work,  it  is  not  unmindful  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  which  exist 
in  certain  mission  fields  and  it  is  not  disposed  to  put  undue  pres- 
sure on  either  the  missionaries  or  the  native  churches.  On  the 
other  hand  we  should  also  guard  against  the  danger  of  assuming 
that  obstacles  are  insurmountable  and  that  because  self-support 
cannot  be  immediately  attained,  it  is  therefore  an  impracticable 
theory  instead  of  a  definite  object  to  be  patiently,  resolutely  and 
consistently  sought." 

That  the  Syria  missionaries  understand  the  situation  and 
are  earnestly  grappling  with  it  was  apparent  in  a  carefully  pre- 
pared paper  on  self-support  presented  by  the  Rev.  William  Jes- 
sup  at  my  conference  with  the  Mission  in  Beirut.  I  quote  his 
conclusions,  not  only  that  the  Board  may  know  what  the  Mis- 
sion itself  is  trying  to  do,  but  that  other  Missions  may  have  the 
benefit  of  the  methods  which  he  suggests.  He  declares  that  the 
Syria  methods  for  promoting  self-support  are  : 

"A.  In  day  schools,  i.  By  requiring  in  the  Presbytery  the 
churches  which  have  day-schools  for  their  children  to  give  as 
largely  as  possible  to  their  support.  2.  By  charging  fees  in  the 
large  majority  of  places,  thus  making  self-supporting  direct  and 
putting  it  where  it  belongs.  3.  By  demanding  a  lump  sum  at 
the  opening  of  the  year  from  the  leading  supporters  of  the 
school  and  making  them  responsible  for  the  rent  of  the  school- 
house,  also  the  rent  of  the  teachers'  dwelling.  This  secures  the 
stability  of  the  school  and  good  attendance  of  pupils.  4.  By  in- 
sisting that  the  pupils  furnish  their  own  books,  benches,  and 
fuel.  5.  By  giving  the  teacher  a  given  sum  each  month  and  tell- 
ing him  to  get  the  remainder  of  his  salary  from  the  people.  If 
not  supported  by  the  people,  the  school  is  closed. 

"B.  In  boarding  schools,  r.  Through  the  Principal,  who 
demands  full  pay  where  the  applicants  are  able  and  who  assigns 


90 

a  scholarship  to  those  who  cannot  pay  the  full  sum,  it  being  an 
admitted  principle  that  those  who  are  largely  helped  by  mission 
funds  are  received  by  the  training  schools  at  a  lower  figure  than 
those  who  pay  a  large  part  of  the  tuition-fee.  In  this  way  mis- 
sion aid  covers  a  large  number  of  pupils.  2.  Through  the 
Station  missionary  on  the  frontier,  who  inquires  carefully 
into  the  merits  of  the  case  in  the  home  of  the  candidate. 
In  a  choice  of  two  candidates,  all  things  being  equal, 
the  preference  is  given  to  the  Protestant,  with  the  view 
to  furnishing  a  future  native  helper.  Also  he  examines  into 
the  ability  of  the  candidate ;  the  financial  resources  of  the  par- 
ent or  guardian;  the  character  of  the  child  and  the  ultimate 
effect  the  education  of  said  child  in  the  boarding  school  will 
have  upon  its  native  village.  Before  the  decision  is  made,  he 
refers  the  matter  to  the  Station.  The  sums  used  for  these  schol- 
arships are  the  funds  marked  in  the  appropriations  from  the 
Board  as  for  "Training  Native  Helpers."  3.  By  requiring  in 
boarding  schools  that  books,  clothing  and  other  expenses  be 
paid  by  the  pupils  or  their  supporters. 

"C.  In  the  Churches,  i.  By  bringing  the  pressure  upon 
the  churches  through  their  pastors  and  elders  in  Presby- 
tery, thus  giving  them  the  responsibility  of  running  their 
churches  on  a  diminishing  amount  of  mission  funds  from  year 
to  year.  2.  By  the  direct  co-operation  of  the  missionary  in 
a.  Presenting  it  to  the  congregation  from  the  pulpit,  b.  Pre- 
senting it  in  monthly  meetings,  c.  Presenting  it  to  the  congre- 
gation in  its  business  meetings,  when  the  funds  collected  are  to 
be  assigned,  d.  By  writing  letters  to  the  absent  members  who 
have  emigrated  and  soliciting  their  support  for  the  home  Church. 
e.  Through  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  by  asking  them 
to  assist  in  the  current  expenses  of  the  Church." 

The  Mission  approved  this  outline  and  unanimously  adop- 
ted Mr.  Jessup's  recommendations  to  improve  this  policy  of  self- 
support — "ist.  By  organizing  a  Standing  Committee  in  the 
Mission  on  Self-support.  2nd.  By  organizing  a  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Self-support  in  each  Presbytery  among  the  natives. 
3rd.  By  stated  conferences  on  self-support  with  the  leading 
Protestant  elders  and  business  men.  4th.  By  special  and  united 
effort  to  arouse  our  native  helpers  and  Protestant  communities 
to  a  state  commonly  known  as  a  revival  of  religion.  5th.  By  hav- 
ing stated  contributions  made  directly  to  the  church  treasury. 


91 

6th.  By  having  each  Church  appoint  a  treasurer  through  whose 
hands  the  pastor's  salary  shall  be  paid.  7th.  By  publishing 
frequent  articles  on  the  subject  in  our  Protestant  journals," 

It  would  be,  however,  as  unjust  as  it  would  be  ungracious 
to  fail  to  note  that  some  of  the  Syrian  Protestants  are  already 
doing  nobly  in  this  respect.  Dr.  Nelson  justly  reminds  us 
that  whereas  twelve  years  ago  the  churches  of  Tripoli  Presby- 
tery paid  almost  nothing,  the  eight  organized  churches  now 
pay  fully  one-third  of  the  cost  of  their  work  including  their 
day  schools,  while  I  have  already  referred  to  the  gifts  of  the 
Hums  congregation  and  the  fees  that  are  paid  in  the  boarding 
schools.  I  was,  moreover,  favorably  impressed  by  the  native 
preachers,  teachers  and  communicants  whom  I  met.  The 
retrenchments  of  several  years  ago  bore  heavily  upon  them, 
for  they  had  long  been  accustomed  to  a  comparatively  liberal 
scale  of  support.  With  many  misgivings,  the  missionaries 
told  them  of  the  serious  reduction  in  the  appropriations  which 
the  Board  had  been  forced  to  make.  But  to  the  surprise  and 
joy  of  the  missionaries,  those  Syrian  pastors,  elders  and  help- 
ers manifested  a  courage  and  self-sacrifice  worthy  of  all  praise. 
They  made  pledges  which  were  liberal  for  men  of  such  scanty 
incomes,  several  of  the  preachers  and  teachers  in  particular 
voluntarily  making  large  reductions  in  their  salaries.  But  the 
Mission  has  since  declared  that  "the  churches  seem  to  have 
reached  the  limit  of  ability  and  we  dare  not  anticipate  further 
advance  for  a  long  time  to  come,  or  at  most  only  such  advances 
as  the  improvement  of  local  work  demands." 

The  Mission  added: — "There  are  large  and  important  dis- 
tricts in  Syria  as  yet  untouched,  where  schools  ought  to  be 
opened  but  where  little  income  could  be  obtained  from  the 
people.  The  Mission  has  never  admitted  that  the  time  had 
come  for  the  reduction  of  the  sum  to  be  spent  in  Syria.  On 
the  contrary,  we  believe  it  should  be  higher  than  it  has  ever 
been.  The  sum  spent  upon  the  work  in  organized  churches 
should  be  gradually  reduced,  but  this  saving  should  secure 
the  extension  of  the  work  in  other  districts.  The  Evangelical 
Church  in  Syria  stands  in  comparison  with  elaborate  estab- 
lishments of  gorgeous  ritualistic  churches  and  a  haughty  but 
intensely  reverent  Islam.  In  these  conditions,  evangelical 
places  of  worship  should  command  the  respect  and  attract  the 
attendance  of  people  who  hold  a  high  standard  of  what  is 


92 

worthy  in  the  worship  of  God.  The  simplicity  of  Protestant 
worship  commands  the  respect  of  thoughtful  people  whether 
Christian  or  Mohammedan,  but  both  are  shocked  and  repelled 
by  the  idea  of  worshipping  God  in  a  place  less  dignified  than 
an  average  dwelling  and  used  as  a  place  of  residence.  The 
Syrian  Christians  must  have  suitable  places  of  worship  and 
they  can  seldom  secure  this  for  themselves.  Without  these 
the  work  would  be  blocked  or  held  back  for  a  generation." 

FAITHFUL  WORK. 

Amid  these  trying  conditions,  forty  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionaries are  working,  of  whom  fifteen  are  men  and  twenty- 
five  are  women.  Under  their  direction  are  193  native  workers 
of  various  grades,  20  organized  churches,  2,410  communicants, 
106  schools  enrolling  6,218  pupils,  the  great  printing  press, 
which  last  year  issued  28,705,760  pages,  and  a  medical  work 
which  annually  treats  more  than  ten  thousand  patients. 

As  to  personal  character,  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  of  London, 
said  of  the  two  hundred  missionaries  from  Syria  and  Palestine 
whom  he  met  at  the  Brumm-anna  Conference,  "In  all  my  travels 
I  have  never  met  a  more  noble  body  of  workers  representing 
many  nationalities,  yet  all  one  in  Christ." 

The  late  Lord  Dufiferin,  who  was  then  Her  Majesty's 
Commissioner  in  Syria,  wrote  to  Lord  Shaftesbury — "I  regret 
extremely  that  I  am  unavoidably  prevented  from  attending 
the  meeting,  to  be  held  on  the  22d  in  aid  of  the  Syria  Mission, 
as  I  have  been  long  looking  forward  to  that  opportunity  of 
bearing  testimony  to  the  estimable  character  and  unwearied 
devotion  of  the  American  and  English  missionaries  with 
whom  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  brought  into  contact 
during  my  stay  in  that  province.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
exaggerate  the  debt  of  gratitude  all  those  who  are  interested 
in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  civilization  owe  to  these  gentle- 
men. For  years  past,  they  have  been,  each  in  his  own  dis- 
trict, the  centres  from  which  innumerable  benefits  have  been 
disseminated  among  the  people  in  the  midst  of  whom  they  live, 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the 
respect  which  their  blameless  lives  have  inspired  in  the  minds 
of  all,  even  when  the  religious  doctrines  v/hich  they  have  been 
sent  to  inculcate,  have  been  unfavorablv  received." 


93 

More  recently,  when  a  New  York  newspaper  printed  a 
bitter  attack  upon  the  American  missionaries  in  Turkey-in- 
Asia,  Rear  Admiral  Charles  O'Neill  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  who  was  formerly  stationed  in  Syrian  waters,  replied 
as  follows :  "Among  those  missionaries  I  found  some  of  the 
most  agreeable  and  charming  people  I  have  ever  met  in  up- 
ward of  thirty  years  of  foreign  travel.  I  have  known  within 
the  last  year  not  less  than  fifty  of  the  persons  engaged  in 
Mission  work  in  Turkey,  and  know  a  good  deal  about  a  much 
greater  number,  and  can  honestly  say  that  among  them  I  met 
none  who  were  not  worthy  and  creditable  representatives  and 
educated  and  refined  people,  respected  by  all  classes,  and  faith- 
fully performing  the  work  they  had  elected  to  do,  and  in  the 
face  of  such  a  gratuitous  insult  as  is  contained  in  the  article 
referred  to,  I  regard  it  as  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  testify  to 
the  high  character  of  our  countrymen  and  women  engaged  in 
the  Turkish  Mission.  I  heard  nothing  except  good  of  them 
from  the  Turkish  officials  and  people,  most  of  them  Mohamme- 
dans, not  in  sympathy  with  the  mode  of  education  or  religion 
of  our  people,  but  who  were  honest  enough  to  say  that  as  indi- 
viduals they  commanded  their  respect,  and  as  educators  of  the 
young  and  dispensers  of  charity  they  were  forced  to  respect 
them." 

My  long  tour  has  given  me  a  more  vivid  realization  of  the 
patience  and  wisdom  with  which  Presbyterian  missionaries  all 
over  Asia  are  addressing  themselves  to  the  solution  of  the 
great  problems  confronting  them.  They  are  not  discour- 
aged, for  they  believe  that  the  spirit  of  God  has  called 
them  to  that  ancient  land,  and  that  they  are  being  used  by  Him 
for  the  accomplishment  of  eternal  purposes.  So  they,  too,  feel 
that  "the  future  is  as  bright  as  the  promises  of  God."  "In  spite 
of  all  obstacles,"  writes  Mr.  Hoskins,  "almost  every  day 
the  schools  are  open.  Every  Sunday  the  little  congregations 
assemble.  Almost  every  hour  the  Bible  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  leaders  and  listeners.  The  missionaries  journey 
up  and  down  the  field  in  winter  and  summer,  in  heat  and  cold, 
in  sunshine  and  storm.  Thousands  are  spoken  to  by  the  way, 
and  tens  of  thousands  taught  in  their  own  homes.  These  brief 
statistics,  gathering  up  so  many  years  in  a  sentence,  are  to  many 
people  like  the  valley  of  dry  bones  to  the  desponding  prophet. 
But  to  him  who  knows  their  meaning  and  walks  among  them, 


94 

they  rise  and  stand  upon  their  feet,  clothed  with  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  those  whose  life-work  they  represent — their  hopes, 
their  fears,  their  doubts,  their  struggles,  their  tears,  their  death. 
Often  as  I  look  from  the  heights  of  Lebanon  over  that  beautiful 
plain,  I  trace  in  fancy  the  shining  threads  of  those  consecrated 
lives  stretching  from  mountain  to  mountain,  leading  from  vil- 
lage to  village,  from  home  to  home,  crossing  and  recrossing, 
interlacing  and  intertwining,  until  the  earth  is  covered  as  with 
a  garment  of  light  and  glory.  Whether  men  heed  or  reject 
not  a  word  spoken,  not  a  kindly  act,  not  an  earnest  effort,  not  a 
prayer,  not  a  tear,  not  a  sigh,  is  lost  or  forgotten  before  God." 

Nor  are  visible  results  wanting.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  H. 
Jessup,  in  contrasting  the  present  situation  with  that  of  half  a 
century  ago,  writes :  "We  find  public  sentiment  throughout 
the  land  revolutionized  on  the  subject  of  education  for  both 
sexes ;  a  vast  number  of  readers  raised  up  among  all  the  sects 
and  nationalities ;  thousands  of  men  who  have  been  abroad  as 
emigrants  or  travelers,  returning  with  new  ideas  and  broadened 
views  ;  the  power  of  the  hierarchy  greatly  weakened  ;  the  Bible 
in  thousands  of  homes ;  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  in  Beirut 
wielding  an  immense  influence  all  over  -  Western  Asia  and 
Northeastern  Africa ;  an  increasing  demand  for  the  Arabic 
Scriptures ;  the  Syria  Evangelical  Churches  beginning  to  real- 
ize their  responsibility;  a  great  increase  in  the  native  news- 
paper press;  general  advance  in  the  construction  of  wagon 
roads,  bridges  and  postal  routes;  better  houses,  especially  in 
Lebanon;  three  railways  in  operation  in  Syria,  Houran  and 
Palestine ;  and  in  fine  a  material,  intellectual  and  moral  awaken- 
ing which  is  the  preparation  for  a  new  Syria  in  the  new  century 
at  hand." 

While  Mohammedanism  to  the  superficial  observer  appears 
as  impregnable  as  ever,  the  attentive  student  can  discern  un- 
mistakable signs  that  it  is  being  slowly  but  steadily  modified  by 
the  forces  which  are  operating  upon  it.  Thousands  of  Moslems 
are  already  profoundly  interested,  and  were  it  not  for  the  cer- 
tainty of  persecution  and  even  death,  many  would  confess  their 
faith  in  Chris't.  The  fierceness  of  Moslem  opposition  is  not  so 
much  from  individuals  as  from  the  Government  and  the  subord- 
inate officials  whom  it  inspires. 

The  spiritual  condition  of  Syria  and  Palestine  is  fairly 
illustrated  by  the  physical.     An  evenly  distributed  natural 


95 

rainfall  is  unknown  and  water  must  be  sought  and  laboriously 
conveyed  to  the  places  where  it  is  most  needed.  Formerly, 
wells,  springs,  ditches,  and  aqueducts  were  numerous  and  the 
soil  produced  so  abundantly  that  the  land  was  said  to  Be 
"flowing  with  milk  and  honey."  We  may  reasonably  infer 
from  the  biblical  descriptions  that  it  was  one  of  the  most  fer- 
tile and  prosperous  regions  in  the  world.  How  large  a  part 
water  had  in  the  thought  of  the  people,  the  Bible  clearly 
shows.  646  times  the  inspired  writers  use  the  word  "water," 
either  literally  or  figuratively,  "brooks"  53  times,  "springs" 
29  times,  "streams"  24  times,  "rivers"  145  times,  "fountains" 
49  times,  "wells"  61  times,  "floods"  62  times,  "ponds"  3  times, 
"pools"  27  times,  "showers"  12  times,  "rain"  108  times,  "cis- 
terns" 5  times.  Altogether  these  words  occur  1224  times  in 
the  Bible  and  often  in  connection  with  many  of  the  deepest 
truths  and  experiences  of  the  Christian  life. 

But  to-day,  many  of  the  water  courses  are  dried  up.  The 
ancient  wells  are  choked  wnth  the  accumulations  of  centuries 
of  neglect.  Fountains  which  once  poured  forth  refreshing 
streams  are  now  stagnant  pools  which  promote  disease  and 
death  rather  than  life.  The  modern  traveler  sees  barren  val- 
leys and  stony  hillsides  baking  under  the  burning  Eastern 
sun.  The  general  appearance  is  arid,  save  at  a  few  places  and 
at  certain  seasons.  Syria  and  Palestine  are  literally  "a  dry 
and  thirsty  land  where  no  water  is." 

And  is  not  this  a  picture  of  the  spiritual  condition? 
Here  once  gushed  forth  the  fountains  of  living  water.  In  this 
region  appeared  One  who  said  "Whosoever  drinketh  of  the 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing 
up  into  everlasting  life."  But  He  who  said  that  was  crucified. 
His  disciples  were-  persecuted  and  scattered  abroad.  Wars 
and  famines  and  pestilences  spread  over  the  land.  Men 
ceased  to  drink  of  the  water  of  life  and  turned  to  the  broken 
cisterns  of  formalism  and  sin.  And  so  the  living  fountain 
ceased  to  flow  and  Syria  and  Palestine  became  "as  a  garden 
that  hath  no  water." 

But  in  these  latter  days,  men  and  women  of  God  are 
seeking  to  re-open  the  long  closed  fountains  and  to  cause  the 
living  waters  again  to  flow.    The  task  is  painful  and  laborious. 


96 

The  experience  of  the  missionaries  in  this  spiritual  toil  has 
been  like  their  experience  with  artesian  wells  at  Sidon.  Of 
the  nineteen  which  have  been  bored  at  heavy  cost,  nine  are 
failures.  From  six  others  water  can  be  pumped  from  a  hun- 
dred foot  level,  but  thus  far  they  have  not  been  utilized  on 
account  of  the  expense  that  would  be  involved.  The  remain- 
ing four  are  used,  though  in  them  also  the  water  has  to  be 
pumped  from  various  underground  levels,  one  from  fifty-two 
feet,  two  from  twenty  feet  and  one  from  fifteen  feet.  So  the 
water  is  obtained  and  it  is  bringing  great  relief,  but  the  mis- 
sionaries still  long  for  a  well  which  will  spontaneously  gush 
forth  an  abundant  supply  without  the  weary  task  of  pumping. 

This  has  been  the  history  of  our  Mission  work  in  Syria. 
In  some  places  there  has  been  no  apparent  result,  and  out-sta- 
tions, which  were  begun  in  hope,  have  had  to  be  abandoned. 
In  other  places  spiritual  success  is  within  reach,  but  the  Mission 
has  not  been  so  equipped  that  it  could  actually  obtain  it.  In 
various  parts  of  Syria  to-day,  there  are  these  stations  and  out- 
stations  at  the  hundred-foot  level  which  are  not  being  utilized. 
Thank  God  that  in  other  places  spiritual  success  has  come 
nearer,  so  that  the  life-giving  water  is  actually  coming  forth  to 
refresh  and  fructify.  We  need  not  be  discouraged  because 
some  efforts  appear  to  have  accomplished  little.  We  may  rather 
be  cheered  by  the  knowledge  that  the  water  of  life  is  really 
again  flowing  in  Syria,  at  whatever  cost  of  toil  and  pain. 

But  let  the  people  of  God  in  the  home  land  join  with  the 
missionaries  across  the  sea  in  the  constant  and  importunate 
prayer  that  the  fountains  of  eternal  life  may  soon  more  freely 
and  abundantly  pour  forth  their  treasures.  And  so  my  thought 
toward  Syria  is  that  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-sixth  Psalm 
— thanksgiving  for  the  measure  of  blessing  that  has  already 
been  given — "the  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us; 
whereof  we  are  glad;"  but  humble,  earnest  prayer  that  far 
richer  grace  may  come — "Turn  again  our  captivity,  O  Lord, 
as  the  streams  in  the  south."  May  God  grant  that  we  may 
soon  see  that  "they  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy,"  and  that 
"he  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall 
doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with 

him." 

ARTHUR  J.  BROWN. 

156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York,  July,  1902. 


BW7157.2  .B87 

Report  of  a  visitation  of  the  Syria 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00081   6183 


HIGHSMITH  #45115 


